Evacuation of Nigerians Delayed After Flight Exceeded Allotted Duty Hours

*First batch expected to arrive today
*Ukraine says talks with Russia agreed on humanitarian corridors

Chinedu Eze and Dike Onwuamaeze

The authorities of Chopin Airport, Warsaw, yesterday cancelled the evacuation flight that was expected to bring in from Poland the first batch of Nigerians that escaped the on-going conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The plane was to take off from that airport.

In continuing reactions to the conflict, particularly by Western countries and institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group yesterday declared support for the people of Ukraine and decried the war raging in the country that has caused devastating human and economic consequences.

The US White House yesterday announced new sanctions on Russian oligarchs in President Joe Biden’s latest attempt to squeeze Russian President Vladimir Putin as the invasion of Ukraine advanced.

The flight meant to evacuate stranded Nigerians was cancelled because the aircraft overstayed its allotted duty hours. The crew that operated the Air Peace flight from Nigeria to Poland had spent their allotted hours of duty and, according to international standards, they could not exceed the allotted hours.

Flight and Duty Time Limitations (FTL) recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is the rule, which ensures that aircrew fatigue does not decrease flight safety.

Since most aviation incidents and accidents are result of human factors, fatigue is taken into account as a major factor, which also contributes to the human error. Therefore, fatigue of crewmembers has been an issue in civil aviation since the 1944 Chicago Convention.

The Nigerian evacuation flight was shifted to early today morning and it was expected to arrive the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, later today.

Ambassador Bolaji Akinremi, who arrived Poland with the Air Peace flight, disclosed this.
Akinremi explained to Arise TV, “The reality is that the flight has been rescheduled to tomorrow (Friday). The main reason is because of the delay during the check in because they have to gather them together from different hotels and by the time we would be ready after the check in, the crew that had been waiting since 9:00 am overshot their duty hour, which is allocated to them.

“They have waited from 9am to 2pm. It means they have already waited five hours and they are going to have nine hours flight. That is already more than the standard allowed. So the authorities of the airport said they won’t allow us to go.

“So we have to come down. But arrangement has been made to ensure that we all stay together in the same hotel and we will leave very early tomorrow, 4am with the bus so that we can join the flight early.”

The Nigerian Ambassador to Poland, Christian Ugwu, who was visibly worried over the postponement of the flight, attributed the delay to the unruly behaviour of some Nigerians who could not prepare quickly to board the flight, but also expressed optimism that the flight would take off today.

“I am very sure by tomorrow morning the flight will take off,” Ugwu said.
THISDAY gathered that before the flight was cancelled, passengers had been allowed to board and they had all been stamped after passing through security. They were already in the aircraft before the airport authorities announced the cancellation, so the evacuees had to de-board.

However, about 1,500 Nigerians may be missing as out of the 2,222 that were received only about 600 could be accounted for.

Arise News reported, “Nigerian authorities, the Nigerian embassy here in Poland, said they only had a count of 600. But it seems at this point, there are more than 1,500 Nigerians, who are missing.”

On Wednesday, President Muhammed Buhari announced the approval of $8.5 million for the evacuation of about 5, 000 Nigerians who had moved from Ukraine to neighbouring countries where they were expected to be evacuated from.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had arranged the evacuation of Nigerians from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries.
The chartered flights were initially arranged to depart on Wednesday, to bring the first batch of Nigerians home on Thursday.

The following Nigerians, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs records indicated that evacuees received by Nigerian embassies at Hungary were 650 persons, Poland 350 persons, Romania 940 persons and Slovakia 150 persons.

The Ministry arranged that Max Air would airlift Nigerians from Romania (560 persons), Air Peace to Poland (364 persons), and Air Peace to Poland (360) persons.
The first batch of evacuees was expected to arrive Nigeria on Thursday, March 3, 2022.

IMF, World Bank Declare Support for Ukraine, Mobilise $5.2bn

The IMF and the World Bank Group declared support for the people of Ukraine and decried the war raging in the country that has caused devastating human and economic toll.

The Brent Wood institutions made their views known about the war that was provoked by Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine in a joint statement signed by Managing Director of IMF, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, and the President of World Bank Group, Mr. David Malpass.

The statement reads in part, “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the devastating human and economic toll brought by the war in Ukraine. People are being killed, injured, and forced to flee, and massive damage is caused to the country’s physical infrastructure.

“We stand with the Ukrainian people through these horrifying developments.”
Georgieva and Malpass noted that the war was also creating significant spill overs to other countries while commodity prices were being driven higher at the risk of further fuelling inflation that hit the poor the hardest.

They said, “Disruptions in financial markets will continue to worsen should the conflict persist. The sanctions announced over the last few days will also have a significant economic impact. We are assessing the situation and discussing appropriate policy responses with our international partners.

“Our institutions are working together to support Ukraine on the financing and policy fronts and are urgently increasing that support. We have been in daily contact with the authorities on crisis measures.

“At the IMF, we are responding to Ukraine’s request for emergency financing through the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), which our board could consider as early as next week.
“In addition, we continue to work on Ukraine’s Stand-By Arrangement program, under which an additional $2.2 billion is available between now and the end of June.”

The statement also said the World Bank Group was “preparing a $3 billion package of support in the coming months, starting with a fast-disbursing budget support operation for at least $350 million that will be submitted to the board for approval this week, followed by $200 million in fast-disbursing support for health and education.”

It explained that this package would include the mobilisation of financing from several development partners, and welcomed the already-announced support from many bilateral partners.

The statement said, “The World Bank and the IMF are also working together to assess the economic and financial impact of the conflict and refugees on other countries in the region and the world. We stand ready to provide enhanced policy, technical, and financial support to neighboring countries as needed. Coordinated international action will be crucial to mitigate risks and navigate the treacherous period ahead. This crisis affects the lives and livelihoods of people around the world, and we offer them our full support.”

White House Announces New Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs

The White House has announced new sanctions on Russian oligarchs, in Biden’s latest attempt to squeeze Putin.
The new list of individuals described as “Putin’s cronies and their family members” would be cut off from the US financial system, their assets in the US would be frozen, and their property would be blocked from use, according to a fact sheet from the White House.
According to the CNN, there would be full blocking sanctions on eight Russian elites, plus their family members and associates.

It included a move to target Putin ally Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, “one of Russia’s wealthiest individuals,” according to the White House, and will include his super-yacht and private jet.
The US is also sanctioning Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, whom the White House described as “a top purveyor of Putin’s propaganda.”

“The United States and governments all over the world will work to identify and freeze the assets Russian elites and their family members hold in our respective jurisdictions — their yachts, luxury apartments, money, and other ill-gotten gains,” the fact sheet said.

Other individuals who would be subject to full blocking sanctions are: Nikolai Tokarev (along with his wife Galina, daughter Mayya and his two luxury real estate companies); Boris Rotenberg (along with his wife Karina, and his sons Roman and Boris); Arkady Rotenberg (along with his sons Pavel and Igor and daughter Liliya); and Sergei Chemezov (along with his wife Yekaterina, his son Stanislav and stepdaughter Anastasiya).

The list also included Igor Shuvalov (along with his five companies, his wife Olga, his son Evgeny and his company and jet, and his daughter Maria and her company), and Yevgeniy Prigozhin (along with his three companies, his wife, Polina, his daughter Lyubov, and his son Pavel).

The US disclosed that it would also impose visa restrictions on 19 oligarchs and 47 of their family members and close associates.

That would target oligarchs, “known to direct, authorise, fund, significantly support, or carry out malign activities in support of Russia’s destabilising foreign policy.”

The Department of Treasury will also issue sanctions on disinformation targets. That includes SDN Strategic Culture Foundation and associated outlets Odna Rodyna, Rhythm of Eurasia, and Journal Kamerton; SouthFront; SDN InfoRos; New Eastern Outlook; Oriental Review; United World International; and Geopolitical.

It will also designate “26 Russia and Ukraine-based individuals who play central roles in these organisations, enabling the Government of the Russian Federation’s efforts to spread disinformation and influence perceptions as a part of their invasion of Ukraine.”

The US and its allies have taken a wide range of actions in recent weeks intended to punish Moscow for the invasion, including harsh new sanctions and export controls aimed at imposing severe costs on the Russian economy.

Biden announced on Tuesday the US would ban Russian aircraft from US airspace, joining a growing number of countries who have closed their skies to Russia. The US and its allies have also agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their reserves.

Ukraine Says Talks with Russia Agreed on Humanitarian Corridors

A Ukrainian negotiator said yesterday that a second round of ceasefire talks with Russia had not yielded the results Kyiv hoped for, but the sides had reached an understanding on creating humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the two sides envisaged a possible temporary ceasefire to allow for the evacuation of civilians.

“That is, not everywhere, but only in those places where the humanitarian corridors themselves will be located, it will be possible to cease fire for the duration of the evacuation,” Reuters quoted him to have said.

They had also reached an understanding on the delivery of medicines and food to the places where the fiercest fighting was taking place. It was the first time the two sides had agreed any form of progress on any issue since Russia invaded Ukraine a week ago.

Podolyak said the outcome had fallen short of Kyiv’s hopes, however.
“To our great regret, we did not get the results we were counting on,” he said, without elaborating.

“The only thing I can say is that we discussed the humanitarian aspect in sufficient detail, because quite a lot of cities are now surrounded. There is a dramatic situation with medicines, food, and evacuation,” Podolyak said