Nigerian medical student dies days after getting evacuated from Ukraine

Huzaifa Habibu, a Nigerian student who just got evacuated from Ukraine, has died. Habibu died in his hometown of Sokoto in northern Nigeria after complaining of discomfort and loss of appetite, his father, Habibu Halilu Modaci, told the BBC.

The 22-year-old student was studying medicine in Ukraine but returned home to Nigeria about two weeks ago after the Russian invasion. It was his first time returning home in three years. The young student was expected to graduate next year.

“Had it been he died in Ukraine so many things would be said about him, that he was either killed by the Russian bombardment or had an accident or even accidentally shot and killed by the Ukrainian Army,” his father Modaci said.

Apart from many Africans traveling to Ukraine to work, there are those who go there to study thanks to the European country’s affordable tuition fees and its ties with Africa. Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt are the African countries with the most students in Ukraine, with Morocco having about 8,000 students and Nigeria with 5,000.

Nigeria said it has evacuated more than 1,000 of its students from Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February. In the early days of the conflict, African students and families trapped in Ukraine said that they were being blocked from boarding trains or crossing borders to neighboring countries.