GIDEON Jude, the President of Nigerian Students Association in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) zone, has countered claims by Abike Dabiri-Arewa, Chairman, Nigeria in Diaspora Commission on killings of Nigerians students in the country.
The ICIR reported how Dabiri-Arewa claimed that about 100 Nigerians studying in Northern Cyprus have been murdered without justice.
She also asked that the country be blacklisted as major courses offered by her universities were not accredited.
Reacting in a video on YouTube, Jude who said he has been in Northern Cyprus for eight years said such claims did not exist.
“I clearly to want to point out first that we have never had such a record. It is not correct that 100 of Nigerian students have died in this highland, it is not correct,” Jude said.
“That is not true. I have been on the highland myself for eight years and I am still in the highland. I have taken my responsibility from my predecessor who has been here longer than I did, and we have never had in total, there is no such record that we have up to 20 Nigerian students that have died not even to talk of 100,” he added.
While expressing his condolences to families of those who have lost their loved ones in Northern Cyprus, he called for an investment into the Nigerian education sector by Nigerian Government in order to stop Nigerians looking for quality education from going abroad.
“We have 8000 students on this highland, and more than 10,000 have graduated since early 2000, Nigerians have been coming to this highland,” he said.
“Nigeria Government has to step up such that we need to build this structure, let us revamp our universities so that students can’t travel because Nigerians are everywhere in the world because of education.”
Jude also called on fellow students who are on the highland to conduct themselves in manners that befits themselves, their families and country, as some of them are caught perpetrating in crimes and drugs.
“Students who have found themselves here should also be able to conduct themselves in manners that will be well spoken of and to represent themselves, family and country. We have lots of students here who are into drugs and frauds. These are some of the vices and many others that some of the Nigerian students have been involved in.
“We have Nigerian students who fought themselves. We have some cases where a Nigerian student killed another Nigeria student. We have cases where students died because of overdose of hard drugs. We have issues like this happening on the highland.”
He called on the Nigerian Government through the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to liaise with the Northern Cyprus Ministry of Education if they feel that there are some courses in their universities that were not accredited.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa had called for blacklisting of universities in Northern Cyprus following a petition by Justice Amina Ahmad Bello, a Judge in Kaduna State High Court on the mysterious and, inexplicable death of her son, a third year Civil Engineering degree student of Girne American University in Girne (Kyrenia), Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ( TRNC) via Mersin 10, Turkey in Abuja on Monday.
The late 25-year old Ibrahim Khaleel Bello was reported by his school to have fallen from a seven-storey building in Cyprus.
Justice Bello believed that her son was murdered as opposed to the report from her son’s school report. She added that her son’s death is equally being covered up by the university authority.
She said hours before her son was killed, she spoke with him, and he was expressing fears on his safety in the university environment.
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