Nigerian student studying in Cyprus, Abdulsamad a 300-Level International Relations student of Cyprus Science University has been declared missing. He was until his reported disappearance living off-campus.
This is coming days after an advisory was put out by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) warning Nigerian students from going to Northern Cyprus to study.
Public Relations and Protocols Unit Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, confirmed his disappearance in Cyprus via a statement signed and released by him.
Balogun added that the student’s mother cried to the commission asking for intervention in finding her child in Cyprus.
Balogun said Ibraheem last spoke with her 28-year-old son on the phone on August 2, when he pleaded with her mother to come for him.
The statement reads in part “According to the 54-year-old trader, who hails from Kogi State, she last spoke with her son on August 2, through another person’s phone number, when the son raised an alarm that they had come to pick me up to a detention camp”
Confused about what to do, she reached out to the agent who secured the admission and travelling documents for her son but he was not forthcoming too.
“She said she was advised to write a petition to the Consular and Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by a friend, which she did before someone told her that Abike Dabiri-Erewa had earlier advised Nigerians to be wary of Northern Cyprus, hence reaching out to Dabiri-Erewa for help”,
Receiving the petition on behalf of Dabiri-Erewa, the Secretary of the Commission, Dr Sule Bassi, assured Ibraheem that everything possible would be done to help locate her son and bring him back to the country.
Bassi reiterated that the country doesn’t enjoy diplomatic relations with Northern Cyprus but would do everthing within the body’s power to intervene.
He pleaded with Ibraheem to take care of her health, reassured her that further investigation would be carried out by the Commission in collaboration with the Nigeria Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
He further revealed that the earlier advisory given by the Commission concerning sending students to Northern Cyprus, due to the negative reports received, especially from the students should be followed strictly.