Ukraine Crises: Our Desperate Escape To Romania – Nigerian Students

Our Desperate Escape To Romania - Nigerian Students

The Nation has stated the revelation by Nigerian students over their desperate escape to Romania over Ukraine crises.

Gboyega Alaka in this piece, tracks the progress of Nigerian students, mostly medical students, who made their ways to safety in Bucharest, Romania, following Ukraine’s invasion by Russia He also spoke with some volunteer Nigerians, the Nigerian Ambassador to Romania and an apprehensive parent.

T’S a really terrifying situation out there. A Tanzanian was killed. No, he actually died of hypothermia, which was due to the cold arising from the long wait at the border. There was another African; he also died of hypothermia. It’s extremely cold in that region now. I don’t know any African that has been killed in the attacks, though. I also don’t know of any Nigerian that has died directly from the attack. But people have died of cold and starvation. I didn’t eat for about three days and was running on no-sleep. But then, we were trying to survive.”

The above are words of Vivian Rapheal, a 20-year-old Nigerian medical student, studying at the Kyiv Medical School, as she attempted to capture the predicament of Nigerians, Ukranians and other nationals, as they made to escape to safety from the under attack Ukraine.

Of course, she was not spared of the impact of the cold, she said, but her state of mind spared her.

“I get cold easily, but I guess because I had adrenalin, I didn’t feel anything because I wasn’t thinking of myself. All that occupied my mind was how to get to safety. It was when I got to Romania that I realised that my entire skin was red, my feet were numb and I had rashes.

“My parents back in Nigeria were restless; but I tried to put their mind at rest by constant communication. I was in communication with them throughout my journey. Like every parent, they were scared, but I guess they had faith that we would be okay. I tried the best I could to save my battery too, so I could keep in touch with them. I charged it on the train and with my laptop.”

Recalling how she managed to get out of the troubled country, Vivian said, “The invasion started Thursday and we left Kyiv on Friday afternoon – I was with my sister and a friend. The train from Kyiv to Lyviv took about 15 hours because they were trying to find the safest routes. I got to Lyviv 8am the next day. We had booked a train from Lyviv to Uzhgorod but the train didn’t come on time. And since we didn’t want to waste any much time waiting because it was dangerous, we booked a taxi from Lyviv train station to Uzhgorod. We got to Uzhgorod in the evening of Saturday 4pm because there was traffic. My friend suggested that we rest in the hotel, but I didn’t feel like sleeping in Ukraine that day, so I tried my luck and got a taxi to Santa Mari County, Romania. The taxi driver wanted to drop us at some distance, but we were begging and praying; we even offered to pay him extra. So he took us as close as he could to the passport control of Ukraine. And then we walked to the border.”

Of the invasion, Vivian said the attack started in Kyiv, the capital, but they were also attacking Sumy; so people were trapped there. And then of course Kharkov, which is like the Lagos of Ukraine.

The case of Sumy is particularly pathetic, she said, because the city is on the eastern part of Ukraine and shares border with Russia. They had destroyed their rail system, meaning there was no way for the people there to come out.

As at the time of this interview (Wednesday), Vivian said she didn’t know of anyone who had been able to get out of that city. She also acknowledged that there was a significant number of Africans there.

Would it not be better for them to escape into Russia then?

To this she replied: “I don’t know if it makes sense to escape into the enemy country attacking you.”

Asked if she experienced any form of discrimination as has been reported on cable TV stations, Vivian said, “None whatsoever,” she replied, ” adding, “they were friendly, offering water, hot drinks and food.”

Asked to assess the effort of the Nigerian government and the volunteer groups, Vivian said, “I think they’ve done the barest minimum. As we speak, I’m in a hotel, the Nigerian embassy paid for it.”

We didn’t think much of it

Uthman Ismail and Badmus Abdullai, both 20-year-olds and Year 1 students of Kyiv Medical School, didn’t think much of the altercation between the two countries until the early hours of Wednesday, when the first barrage of bombs started landing in Kyiv, blasting buildings and rocking the foundation of their skyscraper campus hostel.

Recalled Badmus, “The first three bomb blast, I didn’t actually hear because I was sleeping, until someone came to wake me up. I even thought he was joking until I heard another one after a while. That really reverberated and I was really scared. I thought, this was no joke anymore. I was on the 7th floor and I quickly went to the ground floor and saw fellow students, Ukrainians, moving out. Even then, some of us still thought it was a one-off attack and it would pass.”

Uthman actually thought it a ‘rumour’ and never imagined it would snowball into what was unfolding and seen them traverse hundreds of miles to take refuge in Bucharest, Romania.

“I actually thought it was a joke until I heard that first bomb blast around 4-5am on Thursday. What further registered the enormity of the situation in me was when I saw Ukrainian students living for their homes. That left us stranded.”

Funny enough, Uthman said even the Ukrainians didn’t appear to take the threats of war seriously and went about their normal activities.

Once the reality dawned, it didn’t take both friends, who said they travelled together, long to take a decision. They actually wanted to go to Poland, but changed their mind when they couldn’t access the train. It took them 35 hours, but they made it to Romania; first by train, and then courtesy of a Bolt taxi from Uzhgorod. The train was free whilst they paid for the taxi. Some good people in Romania also sent money to help facilitate their passage, they revealed.

At the time of this interview, there was no news of any Nigerian casualty, but they were aware that some people were still stuck in the city.

Asked if he would be willing to be evacuated to Nigeria, despite the risk of losing the time he had put into his studies, Uthman said, “Yes, I came here to study. When the war is over, I can always come back to complete my studies. As I speak, we have 15 days holidays but from what we are hearing, it is not something likely to end anytime soon.”

Recalling the terror in the atmosphere as they travelled, Badmus said “Everybody was scared. Even the Ukranians! We tried to communicate with them, but since they didn’t speak English, we had to let them be. I wasn’t so terrified initially; I was even doing videos. But when they started blowing the siren and telling us to go into the bomb shelter, I began thinking, ‘Guy, this is very serious o.”

He expressed joy to have made it to Bucharest. “We feel safe here. It’s actually a nice place. And for the first time in almost ten months, we ate swallow. They call it grish. It’s like semo. We ate it with Igbo soup.”

Even dangerous situations come with their advantages.

However, even before the Russian invasion, Badmus said he had always nursed a hope of leaving Ukraine.

“I just wanted a better place,” he said.

On the news of discrimination, the young man said, “I would not call it discrimination. They were just giving preference to women and kids.”

His friend, Uthman, is however just glad to be out of Ukraine. He also had some good words for the Nigerian government, through its embassy. “They surpassed my expectation.”

Like Uthman and Badmus, Onu Bethel, also a Year 1 student of Kyiv Medical School, never thought much of the row between Ukraine and Russia, until that Thursday morning invasion.

According to him, “There was a time we heard that the troops were being withdrawn; so we thought there would be a diplomatic solution. We heard countries were mediating and trying to settle it. Of course if I knew it would get to this, I would have left Ukraine.”

He, however, had no regret about coming to the Eastern European country, stating that, “If this didn’t happen, I would most certainly have finished within the six year time-set. There would have been no interruptions.”

He also said Poland was his first choice of exit, but said he ended up wasting too much time trying to get on the train. “I spent two days, actually, before we finally took a train to Uzzhorod en route Romania.”

Of the reception in Romania, Onu said, “They’ve been very helpful and very accommodating.”

On the craze for Kyiv Medical School among Nigerians, Onu volunteered: “I don’t know how credible it is but if you were to check online, the school is rated as the best medical school in Ukraine. It is also cheaper than other medical schools in the Diaspora.”

On the language barrier, all students spoken to said they were taught in English. And even though the Ukrainians aren’t so good in English, they got along with them, using the Google Translate app.

The Ukrainian

For Etima Ukpe, a native of Akwa Ibom State, Ukraine is not just a country of study or sojourn but a home, as she kept repeating the phrase, ‘my city’, all through the interview. Based in Ivanofrankvisk, West of Ukraine, Ukpe, 30, is a qualified medical doctor, and doing her post-graduate studies, specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.

She arrived Ukraine in 2013 and graduated in 2019. Her intention, as she stayed back, was to get her post graduate certificate and relocate to Nigeria; but as it turned out, “It has been easier for me to get into the system, since I studied here.”

Recounting what has now become a horror to both indigenes and foreigners, Ukpe said, “I was in my city when it all started. Ivanofrankvisk is about 12 hours to Kyiv and happened to be the most peaceful and quiet city in Ukraine. You could call it the safest actually. In 2014 when the fight happened in Donesk, it didn’t affect us; so we thought this too wasn’t going to affect us. But on Thursday morning, I got a call from work that there was no need for me to come because our city had been attacked as well and it was not safe.”

Still, she wasn’t scared, and actually thought the worst that could happen would be to seek somewhere to hide. “Then we got information from the mayor that it’s more serious this time, and that everything had stopped. Unlike in the past, shops were not opening, schools were not opening and banks were not opening. Even buses were not running. That was when I realised that this was different,” Ukpe said.

Narrating how she migrated to Bucharest, Romania, Ukpe said, “I belong to a church, so they organised a bus for about 75 of us. At the border, it was tough, but compared to the chaos I heard played out at the Polish border, it was a lot better. The driver dropped us somewhere and we had to walk about three hours to the border gate, where we met a lot of people waiting. I spent about 16 to 19 hours before I could cross. It was pretty cold, but I had doubled up before leaving home.”

Would she be willing to go back home, albeit temporarily, should the Nigerian government make good its pledge to provide a plane to evacuate Nigerian citizens?

“Yes, I want to be home. Definitely,” was her sharp reply.

Brainnews

Eyo Nse is a creative writer, blogger and a software engineer.He is a simple individual who loves to see others succeed in life.Mr Wisdytech as he is popularly known - started blogging in the early 2000's.