Turkish govt begins massive deportation of Nigerian students


Date posted: October 1, 2016

Fredrick Nwabufo

The Turkish government has commenced a massive deportation of Nigerian students resident in the country, TheCable can report.

Rukkaya Usman, a Nigerian student deported from the country, said the Turkish government does not give a reason for the action.

Usman, a final year student of political science and international relations at the University of Meliksah, told TheCable on Saturday that she arrived in Turkey at 8am on September 26, but that she was detained at the airport for about 10 hours after which she was funnelled into an aircraft for a flight back to Nigeria.

“As I got to the airport, at the immigration; they (immigration) collected my passport and resident permit. They started to ask me questions like: ‘what are you studying?’ ‘What’s your father’s name?’ They took my passport. This was on September 26. I asked what was happening. But they said they didn’t know, that it was a new law, that they were sending me back to my country,” she narrated.

“They said if I had any questions I should go to my embassy and ask. I was put in a room. There were about seven other people. We were locked up in the room; there were cameras. We were not allowed to talk to anyone. I was told that my next flight was at 6pm. I asked for my passport, but they said I would get it when I get to my country.

“They took me to the plane, and they watched me as I boarded the aircraft.”

TheCable understands that the Turkish government is in a drive to deport all Nigerian students at universities linked to Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet movement.

Gulen is an Islamic cleric whom President Recep Erdogan of Turkey considers as his strongest rival.

After the botched July 15 coup, Erdogan launched a massive crackdown on the investments of Gulen’s followers.

He blamed Gulen for the coup, but the cleric has denied the allegation.

A few weeks after the coup, the Turkish government asked the Nigerian government to shut down all the schools which had affinity with Gulen. But the Nigerian government did not oblige them.

The Turkish government has now resorted to deporting Nigerian students resident in the country.

THISDAY earlier reported how 50 students were arrested and detained.

Source: The Cable , October 1, 2016


Related News

German state minister: Persecuted Turks can apply for asylum in Germany

“Germany is an outward-looking country and is open to all those who are politically persecuted as a matter of principle,” Roth said. “They can apply for asylum in Germany. That applies not just to journalists.” Roth also spoke out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown against opposition lawmakers and critical journalists and academics.

Turkish Charities accelerate Ramadan aid efforts worldwide

Kimse Yok Mu has raised its Turkey target for this Ramadan and will distribute 178,300 food packages and set up iftar tents in 22 provinces in a bid to feed an estimated 636,000 people. Outside of Turkey the foundation intends to distribute 110,000 food packages to families in need in 103 countries and offer iftar meals to 500,000 people around the world.

State Islam versus civic Islam

Using the Hizmet movement, AK party wants to create a common enemy that would be recognized as such by different social groups. It demonizes the movement and makes it a target of the social opposition. But all these tricks and methods do not eliminate one basic truth. There is an unusual experience in Turkey. There is an ongoing war between “state Islam” and “civic Islam.”

Erdoğan’s allegations proven to be incorrect, contradictory over time

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has over time turned out to be wrong or self-contradictory in his allegations over a number of issues in the past few years, which has cast doubts on his credibility as well as the credibility of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in the eyes of the people.

Erdogan purge far worse than the McCarthy era

What is happening in Turkey right now makes the McCarthy era in the US look like a picnic. When communists were targeted under McCarthyism they were blacklisted; hundreds were jailed, and many were compelled to leave the country. In Turkey it is not communists, but Gulenists. Anyone remotely associated with the Gulen movement is being rounded up and jailed – not by the hundreds, but by the tens of thousands.

Nigerian Turkish Nile University: Moulding the Lives of Young Nigerians

Nigerian Turkish Nile University, in its vision, hopes to grow into a vanguard university that gains the respect of the world through academic excellence by providing the highest quality university education for students from around the globe. Located in the heart of Abuja, the nation’s capital, the NTNU boasts of a clean academic environment and a friendly atmosphere.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Bosnian Arrest of ‘Gulenist’ School Head Sparks Extradition Fears

‘Islam and I’

An ‘impossible’ choice: Leave 5-year-old son in foster care or risk being tortured

Govt Brushes Of Claims Of Terrorism At Afghan-Turk Schools

Turkish Cultural Center Hosts Food Drive

Hizmet Essay Contest 2014

Turkic American Alliance hosts iftar for members of US Congress

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News