Immigration officers at a Nigerian airport have
reportedly seized the international passport of Senator Natasha
Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.
The senator, in a live Facebook broadcast on
Tuesday morning, alleged that the seizure was carried out on the orders of
Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was scheduled to take a short
vacation following the celebration of her second year in office but was
stopped from travelling when immigration officials withheld her passport.
“Having completed the celebration of my second year, I
decided to take a week off, and my passport is being withheld again. The same
thing happened before,” she stated.
The lawmaker maintained that she had committed no
offence and that there was no court order authorising the
confiscation of her travel document.
“I have committed no offence, and there is no order
from any court to seize my passport or deny me from travelling,” she said.
She further alleged that during a previous incident,
an airport officer revealed that the directive to withhold her passport
originated from the Senate President’s office.
“The last time it happened, the officer in charge told
us that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, instructed them to withhold my
passport and prevent me from travelling,” she claimed.
As of press time, neither the Nigeria Immigration
Service (NIS) nor the Office of the Senate President had issued an
official response to the allegations.
Comments:
Leave a Reply