Nigeria begins evacuation of citizens in Iran

The Nigerian government has begun evacuating Nigerians in Iran, with officials accompanying them across the Armenian border as the US and Israel’s war with Iran continues.

The head of the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in a post on Tuesday, said citizens willing to leave are being safely escorted out of the country through the border.

She also stated that Nigerian officials are waiting at the border to receive nationals fleeing the ongoing war, adding that no Nigerian casualties have been recorded.

“Willing Nigerians are being escorted across the Armenian border by officials of the Nigerian embassy in Iran for safe passage.

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“No Nigerian in Iran has been affected by the war as officials remain at the border to receive all who went to leave #israeliranwar #wariniran,” she said.

She did not provide the exact number of Nigerians in Iran or the number of people who had already been evacuated.

The evacuation efforts come 11 days into the war that has caused the death of over 1,300 people, and injured and displaced several others.

According to the Iranian Ministry of Health, US and Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,300 people in Iran, with over 12,000 others injured.

Iran reported that the victims’ ages ranged from eight months to 88 years old. It noted that about 200 women are among those killed, including the 168 Minab elementary school girls.

Similarly, about 55 healthcare workers were wounded and 11 killed, including four physicians, two nurses, and three emergency workers.

Israel’s health ministry also reported that at least 13 Israelis have been killed and 1,929 others wounded due to barrages of Iranian fire into the country since the war began.

Eight US soldiers have been confirmed dead, while Lebanon has reported 394 deaths, including 83 children, caused by Israeli attacks.

Lebanon also said more than half a million people have been displaced during a week of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

US President Donald Trump on Monday said that the war with Iran will be over “very soon,” but made it clear it won’t be this week.

But the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), in response to Mr Trump, said Iranians, not the Americans, would “determine the end of the war.”

READ ALSO: US/Israel-Iran War (Day 11): Trump says war would end soon but Iran rules out ceasefire talks

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also declared that there was no room to discuss a ceasefire while military attacks by the US and Israel continue.

“We are on the eleventh day of military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime. We did not start this war,” he said at a news conference.