The group was arrested on Monday after breaching local security rules by leaving their accommodation after dark. Police have accused them of taking part in violent anti-government protests that have broken out across the country, though the detainees and the Polish government refute claims they were involved.
“The release of six African Studies students and a lecturer from our university held in Nigeria is a priority for me,” the university’s rector, Alojzy Nowak, was quoted as saying in a press release, adding that many people are involved in the release effort.
“I am convinced that these actions will bring us closer to a positive conclusion to the situation that has arisen,” Nowak said.
The university declined to provide details of the actions being taken in order not to jeopardize their success and said concern for the group’s safety determined what information could be made available.
“It may hamper the work of the services engaged in assistance,” the university said, adding that “the safety of the people being detained is the most important thing.”
Violent protests
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the seven Poles had been arrested during protests in Kano in the north of the country, citing local security services.
The Polish foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that consular services were working with local authorities in Nigeria to establish the exact circumstances of the arrests. Reuters had reported that the students were accused of waving Russian flags at the demonstration, something they and the Warsaw authorities firmly deny.
The ministry said that Nigeria’s chargée d’affaires in Warsaw had been invited to cooperate in actions aimed at securing the group’s release and explaining the situation.
On Thursday, concerned family members and friends of the detainees gathered outside the foreign ministry building in an attempt to gain more information. In the late afternoon, the mothers of two of the students were invited into the ministry premises. After leaving they said a meeting with all family members would be held at the ministry at 9 a.m. on Friday.
“We hope to know more tomorrow,” one of the mothers said. “For the good of our children, we will not provide any information now.”
She added that ministry officials had assured her the students were safe.
