Nigeria – Our students should not be victims of Turkey’s high-handedness and authoritarianism


Date posted: October 16, 2016

Nigeria Today Editorial Board

Diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Turkey may be strained over the ongoing harassment and deportation of some Nigerian students from Instanbul by the Turkish authorities. One of the students deported to Nigeria last week, Rukkaya Usman, a final year Political Science student at the University of Meliksah, said the Turkish government did not give a reason for the action. Usman, who arrived in Turkey to resume her studies on September 26 was held for ten hours and placed on a flight back to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye, has said that the Nigerian students who were arrested in Turkey may have been paying for the refusal of the Nigerian government to shut down Turkish schools and other institutions in Nigeria.  Also, the Charge D’Affaires of the Nigerian Mission in Turkey, Ibrahim Isah, said that two Nigerian students had been in detention for more than two months at the Silivri Prisons in Istanbul, Turkey, for allegedly being members of the Fethullah Organisation, which the Turkish government has accused of responsibility for the coup attempt in the country in July. It was also reported that about 50 Nigerian students were arrested in Turkey last week over an alleged link to a suspected terrorist organisation in the country. Many of the Nigerians were said to be students of Fatih University, one of the schools shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt.

Following these developments, the Federal Government has summoned the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, also said that the Nigerian government has asked its Turkish counterpart to free the students.

We strongly condemn the arrest, detention and deportation of some Nigerian students from Turkey’s capital city, Istanbul, over the botched coup in the country. The harassment and intimidation of our students by the Turkish Government over a matter that does not concern them is undiplomatic and utterly reprehensible.

The Turkish government should not visit the punishment for the alleged actions of its political enemies on innocent Nigerian students. Our students should not be victims of that country’s high-handedness and authoritarianism.

It is good that the Nigerian government has summoned the Turkish envoy and demanded the release of the arrested students. Turkey should immediately release these students. What the Turkish government has done is against the spirit of diplomacy. Innocent Nigerian students should not be singled out for punishment for a crime they did not commit. The world should call President Recep Erdogan to order and curb his tendency towards dictatorship.

The Turkish leader should not use the failed coup as an excuse to punish his real and imagined enemies. This victimization of Nigerian students is wrong-headed and in bad taste. The arrogance of Turkey is becoming unbearable.

We call for a quick resolution of this matter. The Nigerian students, like all students everywhere, are vulnerable persons who deserve the protection of the authorities of any country in which they choose to study. Turkey should not be an exception. Since the government of that country has not made any specific charges against them, we demand that they are immediately released and allowed to go about their studies. Those who have been wrongly deported should be assisted by the government of that country to return to Istanbul to conclude their studies.

However, if all attempts at a peaceful resolution of this matter fails, the Nigerian government should not hesitate to invoke the doctrine of reciprocity against Turkey.

Source: Nigeria Today , October 16, 2016

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

To be able to confront coups

EKREM DUMANLI March4, 2012 Fifteen years have passed since the Feb. 28 coup, which was said to “last for 1,000 years.” Every year that “postmodern coup” was questioned and criticized, but it never became such an object of scorn and disdain as it did this year. Certainly there are reasons for this year’s rumble against, […]

New mom jailed with baby for alleged ties to Turkey coup

A woman in Turkey who just gave birth was arrested at the hospital and thrown behind bars three days later — along with her newborn baby — as part of the country’s widespread purge of “Gulenists,” a report says.

Deputy PM Bülent Arınç says row with Hizmet movement would do no good

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has commented for the first time on allegations that there are tensions between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the Hizmet movement, saying, “We don’t need to get into a verbal row that might hurt relations between the government and the movement; we don’t need it, it would hurt us.” He also said Erdoğan holds Gülen in esteem.

Gülen endorses reform package, appealing for ‘yes’ on Sept. 12 referendum

Well-respected Turkish intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gülen has said the constitutional reform package to be voted on Sept. 12 contains crucial amendments. Underlining that everyone, including Turkish citizens living abroad, should say “yes” in the referendum, Gülen said, “I wish we had a chance to raise the dead ones from their graves and urge them to cast ‘yes’ votes in the referendum,” as he highlighted the importance of voting in favor of the changes.

Defamation- Pro-Erdoğan daily claims Gülen movement converted 500,000 to Christianity in Kazakhstan

A Turkish daily claimed on Friday that the Gülen movement had converted 500,000 people to Christianity in Kazakhstan through its schools around the country.

Turkish Schools, an Honor for Host Countries

Turkish schools have been opened in different parts of the world with the efforts of Turkish entrepreneurs, and have been widely praised for their accomplishments. Many state officials, academics and businessmen are eager to send their children to these schools. Georgian Head of State Mihail Saakasvili’s mother, Prof. Giuli Alasania Saakasvili, stated that these schools […]

Latest News

Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

In Case You Missed It

Abrahamic Faith Leaders on Significance of Coexistence

Gov’t lifts confidentiality of MGK docs for publishing in partisan press

Gülen: Burden of proof rests with those who claim we plotted the coup

CHP deputy calls Erdoğan’s order to bring down Hizmet ‘crime’

Kimse Yok Mu provides fast breaking meal to orphan students in Kenya

GYV says Gülen did not send letter to Erdoğan

Attempting to discredit Gülen by linking him to Israel

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News