Nigeria warns citizens against bogus opportunities in TRNC

NIGERIA’S Foreign Ministry has told its citizens not to be enticed to North Cyprus by offers of work and study from people posing as agents.

A statement from the ministry’s spokesperson Francisca K Omayuli, issued via the ministry’s official Twitter account on Monday, said that the “attention of the Federal Government of Nigeria has been drawn to the clandestine activities of unscrupulous elements parading themselves as agents and deceiving unsuspecting young Nigerians into believing that [the] Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus provides easy access to ‘greener pastures’ for studies and jobs opportunities”.

Mrs Omayuli said this has led to an “alarming influx of Nigerians into the territory in recent times” resulting in an “unprecedented increase in consular cases of stranded young Nigerians in the TRNC”.

She advised the “general public” of Nigeria to be “on the alert in order to guard against these socalled agents in Nigeria or elsewhere peddling admissions and the existence of unverifiable job opportunities in the TRNC”.

Her statement added: “It is advisable that students and their parents/guardians carry out due diligence checks on any so-called university or tertiary institution before application for admission is made.

“It is also instructive to be forewarned against deceptive advertising of job opportunities in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

The warning comes after Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chair of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (Nidcom), made false claims in August that Nigerian students are “being killed daily” in the TRNC.

Following a backlash from Turkish Cypriot officials and some Nigerian students in the TRNC, and also after meetings between Abike Dabiri-Erewa and officials at the Turkish embassy in Nigeria, Nidcom last month published a list of 13 Nigerian citizens who they say have died while in North Cyprus since 2016, at least three of whom were murder victims — two of whom were killed by fellow Nigerians.

Nidcom spokesman Abdur-Rahman Balogun reportedly said that it had not been their intention to “exaggerate” or “scare away” those planning to travel to North Cyprus, but to draw attention to the issue because “attempts to address matters pertaining to Nigerians’ welfare in the country had not been successful”.