THE Embassy of Ukraine in Abuja – at Plot 894, Olu Awotesu Street, Jabi District in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – is usually a busy office where prospective travellers, mostly Nigerian students wishing to study in Ukrainian universities, converge to seek visas.

But the embassy was deserted on February 28, about four days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in line with a ‘special military operation’ of President Vladimir Putin.

It was a totally different scenario at the Russian embassy in Abuja on the same day – February 28 – as scores of students and other travellers were seen at the consular section waiting to submit travel documents or undergo scheduled interviews for trips to Russia.

Deserted and quiet at the Ukraine embassy
There was not a single visa-seeking student or businessman in sight when The ICIR visited the Ukrainian embassy in the afternoon on February 28.

A row of seats, positioned at the front of the embassy, is where visitors who are on visa appointment usually wait before they are admitted into the main building.

The seats were empty at the time The ICIR visited, between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

Only a single policeman, who was clutching a gun, was seen at a security post by the entrance of the embassy.

The policeman did not identify himself and refused to respond to The ICIR’s enquiries concerning the state of affairs at the embassy.

His voice sounded dismissive, particularly when he was asked to direct the journalist to embassy officials who could respond to enquiries.

“There is nobody here who can attend to your questions. The embassy staff are not around,” the policeman said in a voice that sounded impatient and aggressive, while he stared at the ID card brandished by The ICIR’s correspondent.

Ukraine is thousands of miles away and there is no indication that Russia would target the Ukrainian embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, but the policeman appeared wary and on the edge. His hand kept straying to the trigger of the gun.

At some shopping plazas around the embassy, people who spoke to The ICIR disclosed that the daily traffic at the Ukrainian embassy had ceased since the war broke out.

“Before now, you would see so many students around here, looking for visas to travel to Ukraine. Sometimes they were so many that even the seats in the waiting area in front of the embassy would not be enough for them,” a POS operator in the street, who simply identified herself as Jane, said.

The ICIR could not independently confirm whether staff of the embassy were at work at the time of the visit. But there was no indication that the place was open for normal business.

The embassy was very calm and appeared deserted.

Despite ongoing war, at Russian embassy, Nigerian students queue up for visas to Russia

Things were markedly different at the Russian embassy in Abuja, on Plot 1119 Constitution Avenue, in the Central Business District.

Judging from the size, structure and location of the Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Abuja, there was no doubt that Russia was the bigger country.

While the Ukrainian embassy is a moderate two-storey building on a busy street in Jabi, a largely residential area in Abuja, the Russian embassy building is a modern, imposing edifice located in one of Abuja’s most highbrow neighborhoods – the Central Area, also referred to as Central Business District.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/war-contrasting-fortunes-of-russian-and-ukrainian-embassies-in-abuja/

They are fighting in Ukraine not Russia

If this is true, then these people are not good at risk assessments, I do not see the need to go to Russia now.

That's why African should stay home and build Africa instead of running to Europe for education and employment.
We believe the worst of Europe is better than the best of Africa

Tomorrow I dey go Ukraine embassy go wait too.. atleast if Dem see me there, e go mean say I dey patriotic and other European countries go gimme Visa..


Sense no go kill me

That's what poverty, inferiority complex and bad leadership does to citizens