Israel-Iran war: Stranded Nigerians cry for help from underground shelters<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nigerians caught in the hostilities between Israel and Iran have called for help from underground shelters amid heavy exchange of missiles between the two countries.<\/p>\n
Those who spoke to Saturday PUNCH slammed the Nigerian government for not doing enough, adding that other countries had started evacuating their citizens.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it was awaiting border clearance to rescue over 1,000 Nigerians in the warring countries.<\/p>\n
Rising casualties<\/p>\n
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According to reports, no fewer than 264 people, including 70 women and children, have died in the two countries since the war started.<\/p>\n
The war began last Friday when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, with guided missiles and air raids pounding suspected Iranian nuclear and military sites, including air-defence installations, as well as residential areas in eastern Tehran, notably the Shahrak-e-Mahallati neighbourhood, home to senior IRGC commanders, and targets in Tabriz and other cities.<\/p>\n
High-ranking Iranian military figures, including General Mohammad Bagheri and IRGC commander Hossein Salami, were among those killed in the Israeli offensive.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Tehran described the strikes from Israel as \u201cthe most direct act of war\u201d in decades of covert hostilities.<\/p>\n
In a retaliatory response on June 13, 2025, Iran launched a large-scale missile barrage, firing over 100 ballistic missiles at Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv, where the Nigerian embassy is located.<\/p>\n
Checks by Saturday PUNCH revealed that most Nigerians living in Israel are based in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Sources confirmed that nearly all economic, social, and religious activities have been suspended in major Israeli cities.<\/p>\n
Nigerians recount ordeal<\/p>\n
In separate interviews with our correspondents, some Nigerians living in major Israeli cities recounted their ordeals.<\/p>\n
A Nigerian in Tel Aviv, Ekene Abaka, said since the onslaught began, members of the Nigerian community in the city had joined other foreigners to take cover in underground shelters provided by the Israeli military, pending an opportunity to escape the country.<\/p>\n
We are in an Israeli bomb shelter and I can\u2019t answer calls right now,\u201d Abaka said in a hasty Facebook message to Saturday PUNCH.<\/p>\n
A software engineer living in Jerusalem, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Nigerians in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem had been scrambling for the past few days since the face-off between the two nations started.<\/p>\n
The source, who also claimed to be speaking from a bomb shelter, said though many Israelis had died, no casualties had been recorded among Nigerians so far.<\/p>\n
He, however, lamented that the Nigerian embassy had closed all official and diplomatic activities without supporting distressed Nigerians in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the areas where Nigerians live in Israel are in Tel Aviv. As a matter of fact, that is the main area where most of the missiles are going. I live in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are about three families in Jerusalem from Nigeria, but the majority of Nigerians live in Tel Aviv. We are on the run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nigerian embassy is situated in Tel Aviv. It has shut down. It\u2019s not doing anything about the issue at the moment. We ran into a bomb shelter to protect ourselves from missiles coming from Iran,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
According to reports, no fewer than 264 people, including 70 women and children, have died in the two countries since the war started.<\/p>\n
The war began last Friday when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, with guided missiles and air raids pounding suspected Iranian nuclear and military sites, including air-defence installations, as well as residential areas in eastern Tehran, notably the Shahrak-e-Mahallati neighbourhood, home to senior IRGC commanders, and targets in Tabriz and other cities.<\/p>\n
High-ranking Iranian military figures, including General Mohammad Bagheri and IRGC commander Hossein Salami, were among those killed in the Israeli offensive.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Tehran described the strikes from Israel as \u201cthe most direct act of war\u201d in decades of covert hostilities.<\/p>\n
In a retaliatory response on June 13, 2025, Iran launched a large-scale missile barrage, firing over 100 ballistic missiles at Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv, where the Nigerian embassy is located.<\/p>\n
Checks by Saturday PUNCH revealed that most Nigerians living in Israel are based in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Sources confirmed that nearly all economic, social, and religious activities have been suspended in major Israeli cities.<\/p>\n
Nigerians recount ordeal<\/p>\n
In separate interviews with Punch correspondents, some Nigerians living in major Israeli cities recounted their ordeals.<\/p>\n
A Nigerian in Tel Aviv, Ekene Abaka, said since the onslaught began, members of the Nigerian community in the city had joined other foreigners to take cover in underground shelters provided by the Israeli military, pending an opportunity to escape the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in an Israeli bomb shelter and I can\u2019t answer calls right now,\u201d Abaka said in a hasty Facebook message to Saturday PUNCH.<\/p>\n
A software engineer living in Jerusalem, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Nigerians in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem had been scrambling for the past few days since the face-off between the two nations started.<\/p>\n
The source, who also claimed to be speaking from a bomb shelter, said though many Israelis had died, no casualties had been recorded among Nigerians so far.<\/p>\n
He, however, lamented that the Nigerian embassy had closed all official and diplomatic activities without supporting distressed Nigerians in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the areas where Nigerians live in Israel are in Tel Aviv. As a matter of fact, that is the main area where most of the missiles are going. I live in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are about three families in Jerusalem from Nigeria, but the majority of Nigerians live in Tel Aviv. We are on the run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nigerian embassy is situated in Tel Aviv. It has shut down. It\u2019s not doing anything about the issue at the moment. We ran into a bomb shelter to protect ourselves from missiles coming from Iran,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in a video shared on Tuesday by Travels Vlog, a Facebook page documenting the daily experiences of Nigerians in Israel and other parts of the Middle East, some Nigerians were seen scrambling into a bomb shelter after the Israeli government sounded the security alarm, warning of incoming Iranian missiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody is running helter-skelter now. I didn\u2019t grab my water. Oh! Those are the missiles there. They have fallen now,\u201d one of them cried out in fear.<\/p>\n
But as they approached one of the shelters, they found it locked.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh! It\u2019s closed. Why did they lock this place? Let\u2019s go, there is another one over there. We can\u2019t stay here. This place is not safe,\u201d another voice urged as the group rushed off in search of an open shelter under the night sky.<\/p>\n
When they finally reached a covered spot, they sat on the ground, visibly shaken, waiting as the blaring alarm slowly faded and the missiles vanished from sight.<\/p>\n
The Travels Vlog host, identified as one Solomon, explained in a live video on Wednesday that people were informed about incoming Iranian missiles through a text message from the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are missiles coming in, but 10 minutes before they hit, the Israeli government detects them and sends us a direct message to immediately leave our homes and run to the shelter. A few minutes afterwards, the security siren starts blaring, and that\u2019s when panic sets in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The situation in the Middle East has prompted governments around the world to evacuate their nationals from both Iran and Israel, where airspace closures and missile fire have made civilian travel dangerous or impossible.<\/p>\n
No fewer than 12 countries, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Greece, and Bulgaria, have contacted their citizens in the warring nations and repatriated hundreds by air, sea, and road.<\/p>\n
Many evacuees crossed land borders on foot before boarding repatriation flights from neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that the Czech Republic and Slovakia flew home 181 people on government planes, while Greece returned home 105 of its citizens plus a number of foreign nationals via Egypt.<\/p>\n
The United States announced plans on Wednesday to evacuate Americans by air and sea, while China evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and several hundred more from Israel.<\/p>\n
The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement issued on Tuesday night, revealed that the Nigerian Embassies in Israel and Tehran (Iran) were actively reaching out to affected citizens and coordinating efforts to ensure their safe return.<\/p>\n
(Punch)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israel-Iran war: Stranded Nigerians cry for help from underground shelters Nigerians caught in the hostilities between Israel and Iran have called for help from underground shelters amid heavy exchange of missiles between the two countries. Those who spoke to Saturday PUNCH slammed the Nigerian government for not doing enough, adding that other countries had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":146566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,323,18,424],"tags":[1458,1456,1457,1459],"class_list":{"0":"post-146565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-international","9":"category-news","10":"category-security","11":"tag-cry-for-help","12":"tag-israel-iran-war","13":"tag-stranded-nigerians","14":"tag-underground-shelters"},"yoast_head":"\n