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Refugee crisis in Europe

Nigerian migrants trying to enter Kiev under guise of football team detained at airport

The men said they arrived in Ukraine to play in a match that would take place in the Transсarpathian region, however nobody was waiting for them and no competitions were scheduled on their arrival day

Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport ITAR-TASS/Maxim Nikitin

Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport

© ITAR-TASS/Maxim Nikitin

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KIEV, September 25. /TASS/. Ukrainian border guards have detained at Kiev’s Boryspil International Airport "a football team" from Nigeria, the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service reported on Friday.

"Officers of the Kiev independent checkpoint detained a ‘football team’ at Boryspil airport yesterday [on Thursday, September 24]," said the State Border Guard Service, adding that the 12 detained Nigerians arrived by an Istanbul-Kiev flight. "The citizens said they arrived in Ukraine to play in a match that would take place in the Trans-Carpathian region," the agency added.

The border guards’ suspicion was raised by the information provided by the passengers. "Nobody was waiting for this ‘team’ to arrive in Ukraine and no competitions were scheduled on their arrival day. It also turned out that the men from Nigeria had no means of subsistence for staying in Ukraine," the service said. The fake footballers also failed to give the true reasons for their trip to Western Ukraine.

As a result, the Ukrainian side denied entry to the Nigerian citizens through the state border. "The trespassers will be sent back by a return flight," the State Border Guard Service said.

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Refugees Refugee crisis

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