Following the viral video on social media, showing a female traveller destroying a Nigerian Standard Passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Monday said it has launched a formal investigation into the matter.
NIS Public Relations Officer, DCI Kenneth Udo who disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja, said the individual has been identified and invited for further investigation.
“The Nigeria Immigration Service has launched a formal investigation following the circulation of a video on social media, showing a female traveler destroying a Nigerian Standard Passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
“If the allegations are substantiated, her actions would have constituted a breach of Section 10(b) of the Immigration Act 2015 (as amended), with corresponding penalties outlined under Section 10(h) of the same Act.
“The Nigeria Immigration Service remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the provisions of the Immigration Act in the interest of national security, and to preserving the dignity and integrity of the nation’s legal instruments,” the statement read.
In the video, a female traveller, identified as Mrs. Igiebor, was seen tearing her husband’s Nigerian Standard Passport shortly after they arrived at the Lagos Airport on Saturday, August 10, 2024. When questioned on the reason for her action, an agitated Igiebor retorted, “Is it your passport?”
She later then told off her transfixed husband as she held the kids’ hands out of the walkway, “If you want to sleep there, sleep there, this is Nigeria, this is where you will be.”
Airport officials were heard consoling and telling her husband to calm down and not say anything in response to her outburst. Meanwhile, the action have been widely condemned as both a public display of emotional distress and a serious offense, given that a passport is a document owned by the Nigerian government.
The NIS noted that her actions could be a violation of Section 10(b) of the Immigration Act 2015 (as amended), which prohibits the willful destruction of Nigerian travel documents. The act outlines specific penalties for such offenses.
