There was mild drama at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Tuesday when Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan confronted officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) after they allegedly seized her passport.
The Kogi lawmaker, who went live on social media during the encounter, revealed that she was travelling abroad shortly after concluding the ceremony marking her second year in office.
According to her, immigration officers attempted to stop her from leaving the country.
In the viral video, the visibly upset senator was seen protesting the officials’ actions. “Why are you withholding my passport? Hello, fellow Nigerians, good morning. This is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan,” she said.
“Having completed the celebration of my second year in office, I decided to take a week off. So I’m at the airport here and my passport is being withheld again. The same thing happened last time when my passport was seized.”
She continued, “I have committed no offence. And there is no order from the court to withhold my passport and deny me travelling. The last time this thing happened, the Officer-in-Charge told us that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he said each time I travel out of the country, I smear the country’s image by granting interviews in international media.”
Appealing directly in the video, she added, “Please, can you tell them to release my passport and this embarrassment should stop. You have no right to withhold my passport. You have no right to deny me exit and entry into my country. I have not committed any offence. And this must stop.”
A female immigration officer behind the counter responded with “Sorry,” prompting the senator to retort, “As a matter of fact, I have to sue you for continuously embarrassing me.”
When the officer again said “Sorry,” Akpoti-Uduaghan replied, “No, don’t tell me sorry. Can you please let me have my passport? You can’t keep doing this to me all the time. I have been standing here for the past 20 minutes.”
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According to the senator, during a previous encounter, she had to reach out to an influential Nigerian before her passport was released. She also claimed that President Bola Tinubu had ordered that all politically motivated cases against her be terminated.
As she continued to protest, a male officer was later seen handing her passport back to her.
However, reacting shortly after the senator’s allegation, the Immigration Service spokesperson, Akinsola Akinlabi, denied that her passport was seized. He explained that officers were only carrying out standard immigration checks.
“NIS didn’t seize the distinguished senator’s passport, but rather she went through routine immigration checks and was allowed to travel,” Akinlabi said.
Speaking further, he clarified, “The NIS officers needed to conduct their checks. They may take your passport to do so, but that doesn’t mean it was seized as alleged. She has since been allowed to travel. Perhaps while waiting for the checks to be completed, she assumed she was being stopped from travelling.”
Akinlabi also pointed out that the senator made the viral video during the routine process but failed to post an update after being cleared. “She has travelled since then. The video was made while she was going through the checks, not after. The passport was never seized,” he added.
When asked if the senator resisted handing over her passport for inspection, Akinlabi said he could not confirm that. “I don’t know about that,” he stated. “But the officers conducting the checks are authorised to collect passports for verification and must return them once done, which they did.”