Two undergraduates of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Abia Alexandro and Eboh Chinedu who were erroneously deported to Bosnia by the Croatian police returned to Nigeria today.
It would be recalled that the two students who attended an international table tennis competition in Croatia, ended up in a Bosnian refugee camp.
They were among the five students who went to Zagreb, Croatia on November 12 to participate in the World University Championships in Pula without the knowledge of the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation.
Two returned home after the tournament; one applied for asylum while Alexandra and Chinedu were deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Croatian police which claimed that they were in the country illegally, despite having arrived in Croatia with valid visas.
Confirming the return of the FUTO students, spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, Mr. Ferdinand Nwonye said in a statement that the duo arrrived at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport today at 2:05am.
Messrs Alexandro and Chinedu are students from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
He said Alexandro and Chinedu were among “five Nigerians who travelled to Zagreb, Croatia, on November 12, to participate in the World University Championship in Pula.”
“A day before their official date of departure, they were arrested and deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Croatian police, who claimed that they were illegal migrants from Bosnia, despite having arrived in Croatia with valid visas.
“The Nigerian authorities, using the Embassy in Hungary asked for the quick release and facilitation of their return in Nigeria, by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The ministry of foreign affairs wishes to urge all Nigerian travellers to always inform the Nigerian missions accredited to their host countries of their arrival, for necessary documentation and information purposes,” Nwonye stated.
