Poland appeals to Nigeria to free students and lecturer detained while on a study program

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish diplomats on Friday appealed for the release of seven citizens who were detained in Nigeria in what Warsaw believes was a misunderstanding amid protests taking place in the West African country.

Six Polish students and a lecturer from Warsaw University, who were taking part in a program to study the Hausa language, were detained earlier in the week in the state of Kano in northern Nigeria.

A spokesperson for Nigeria’s secret service said they were arrested for carrying Russian flags during the protest, something Polish officials say is unlikely.

Deputy foreign minister Jakub Wisniewski appealed to Nigeria to allow the students and lecturer to return home to their families, briefing reporters on the Polish efforts being made in the case after meeting with Nigeria’s charge d’affaires in Warsaw.

“During the meeting, I conveyed that I was convinced that the students’ behavior could have resulted from their ignorance of local customs, culture and laws. I appealed for the possibility of their return to Poland, to their homes, where their families are waiting for them,” Wisniewski said.

Wisniewski said he did not believe the students had been carrying Russian flags.

Pro-Russian sentiment is rare in the Central European nation, which has bad memories of suffering under Russian rule in the past. Polish society is today deeply critical of Russian aggression in Ukraine and strongly backs Ukraine.

Wisniewski said that the seven Poles were taken to the capital, Abuja, and are safe. Poland’s consul was scheduled to meet with them on Friday afternoon.

Wisniewski noted that there is currently a curfew in place and a ban on demonstrations in Nigeria, where large protests have been taking place in the nation of 220 million in reaction to high inflation and hunger.

A few Nigerian protesters have been seen waving Russian flags in northern states, continuing a trend previously seen in Africa in coup-hit countries where pro-Russian sentiments are growing as military governments sever ties with the West.