Poland says students arrested in Nigeria have been released

WARSAW: A group of Polish students who were arrested in Nigeria have been released, the foreign ministry in Warsaw said on Wednesday.

Nigeria said earlier this month that it had arrested seven Polish nationals for raising Russian flags during anti-government protests in the northern state of Kano.

Following their arrest, a Polish foreign ministry spokesperson rejected the accusation that they were waving the flags and said they were merely in the vicinity of the protest.

"The Polish students have been released and are in Kano," the Polish foreign ministry said in a post on social media platform X. "Thank you to everyone involved in the release of the Polish citizens!"

Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians had been protesting since Aug. 1 against President Bola Tinubu's painful economic reforms that have seen a partial end to fuel and electricity subsidies, currency devaluation and inflation touching three-decade highs.

Some protesters waved Russian flags during protests in northern states, underscoring concerns about increased Russian activity in western Africa.