•NIDCOM boss, Abike Dabiri-Erewa
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission,(NIDCOM) has come out to clarify that Nigerians living in Iran have not sent any distress message to the commission in the wake of the missiles being sent by the United States of America and the state of Israel against Iran.
This came on a day the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is still monitoring the situation in the Middle East, reports Daily Independent.
This is even as dozens of protesters marching around the Maryland area of Lagos, yesterday, chanted anti-US and anti-Israel slogans and called for global condemnation of foreign intervention in sovereign nations.
The presence of the demonstrators heightened tensions as passers-by avoided the area.
Recall that Shi’ites had on Sunday protested the attack and killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Kano, Sokoto, Gombe, Niger, Kaduna, Bauchi and Yobe states.
Meanwhile, the war spread across the Middle East and beyond, yesterday, with Lebanon-based Hezbollah entering the fray, targeting a British air base in Cyprus, as price of Nigeria’s Bonny Light surged to $80 per barrel, yesterday, up from $70 per barrel on Sunday, the highest since July 2025.
Director of Media and Public Relations of NiDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, disclosed news of no distress call in a telephone interview with our correspondent.
He said though there might be Nigerians in Iran, none had officially reached out to the Commission for assistance.
“I’m not saying there are no Nigerians there, I’m only saying nobody has sent any distress call,” he clarified.
He explained that flight cancellations to the region are due to ongoing hostilities, stressing that no airline will operate in an active war zone.
“You cannot fly where bombs are going up and down. No airline will fly,” he said, adding that the situation affects all nationals, not just Nigerians.
“There may be ceasefire for two or three days to allow people who are stranded at the airport to be evacuated. That has not been done,” he noted.
Asked to provide an estimate of Nigerians currently affected, Balogun said NiDCOM doesn’t have such data and advised that inquiries be directed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We don’t have embassies there. The only person controlling embassies is the Minister of Foreign Affairs. They will be able to tell you,” he said.
On whether NiDCOM is collaborating with airlines or foreign authorities to ensure Nigerians are not left stranded, the spokesperson maintained that such collaboration is not feasible under the current circumstances.
“There is suspension of (flights) by all airlines. We cannot collaborate with anybody,” he said, noting that Nigeria currently has no national carrier operating international routes.
“Which Nigerian airline? We don’t have one now,” he added.
