A group known as Da’wah and Guidance Bureau of Nigeria, DGBN, Monday called on the Federal Government to immediately intervene over the alleged denial of Visas to Nigerian Students, who want to pursue their academic careers in Turkey.
Disclosing this in a statement, the Secretary-General of DGBN, Hon. Alhaji Aliyu Enya Okoche alleged that Nigerian Students were being denied visas, despite the financial commitment they had made towards their studies and travel overseas.
According to the statement titled “Re: The need for Nigeria to review bilateral relations with Turkey” the group described the situation being faced by Nigerian Students as humiliating, embarrassing and unwarranted.
The Statement read in part: “Our research findings further revealed that students are made to pay full or sometimes half admission fees to the Turkish Universities and yet are denied a visa, which we suspect is in connivance with the Turkish Ambassador in Nigeria, thereby extorting Nigerians who are genuinely seeking admission to study in Turkey.
“The Nigeria Minister of Foreign Affairs Chief Geoffrey Onyema and indeed the Nigeria Foreign Affairs Ministry are hereby called upon to quickly and fully intervene, to investigate the cause of these denials and humiliation of Nigerian students seeking visa after fulfilling all conditions attached and as well the payments and demands of the schools for admissions given to them.
“The investigation could warrant an independent human-rights, crime and violations committed by the Turkish Ambassador against Nigerians.
“There have been collective decade-long failures to uphold the rule of law in an adequate manner befitting the diplomatic status of Nigeria by the Turkish Ambassador’s violations of our freedom of study visa without compunction.
“On behalf of the good people of Nigeria, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to intervene and call the Turkish Government under President Recep Tayyib Erdogan to order, for the need to respect Nigeria and Nigerians and also reciprocate the goodwill of the Government of Nigeria towards the Turkish citizens in our mutual diplomatic relations.
“If Nigerians are maltreated this way by the Turkish Embassy and Ambassador in Nigeria without adequate response(s), it is because our Nigeria Foreign Policy administration and administrators are not capable to face the Turkish Ambassador’s threats.
“There is an urgent need to act otherwise and stop the Turkey Embassy from being inconsistent with our Nigeria foreign policy and national interests in accordance with the extant bilateral relations agreements.”
