On Tuesday, a tense but contained incident unfolded at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport when Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged Nigerian Immigration Service officers who had confiscated her passport.
The senator, broadcasting live on social media, explained that she was heading overseas after concluding events marking her second anniversary in office.
Just days earlier, news outlets had widely covered Natasha’s invitations to fellow senators including Senate President Godswill Akpabio to join her second-year commemorations.
Following the festivities, she planned a short trip abroad, only to be blocked by immigration staff.
In a video that quickly spread online, the senator could be seen vocally objecting to the officers’ actions.
“Why are you withholding my passport? Hello, fellow Nigerians, good morning. This is Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
From behind the counter, a female officer responded: “Sorry,” prompting the senator to retort, “As a matter of fact, I have to sue you for continuously embarrassing me.”
“Sorry,” the officer repeated, and the lawmaker shot back: “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.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan recounted that during the previous incident, she needed a phone call to a powerful contact before her passport was returned.
She added that President Bola Tinubu had ordered all charges against her dropped after they were deemed politically driven.
While she pressed her case, a male officer walked up, returned her passport, and handed it over.
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