Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, has been handed back her international passport hours after it was seized by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS at an undisclosed airport.
The magazine reports that the Senator had protested at the airport on Tuesday after her passport was seized by the officials who did not give a concrete explanation for their action.
Challenging the officials in a viral video cited by the magazine, Senator Natasha said she’s not a flight risk and had committed no crime to warrant the seizure of her passport, saying this is not the first time such treatment had been meted out to her, wondering why her movement in and outside the country is now being restricted.
The Senator was seen in the video demanding an official explanations to the NIS action, threatening to sue the Service if her passport was not released immediately.
The visibly angry senator blamed Senate President Godswill Akpabio for her predicament, lamenting that her life was being frustrated.
“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 happened, the officer in charge told us that the Senate President, Godswin Akpabio instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he said each time I travel out of the country, I spoil the country’s image by granting interviews out in international media,” she said.
“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 entrance into my country. I have not committed any offence and this must stop. No, this must stop.
“As a matter of fact, I think I have to sue you for continuously embarrassing me. No, don’t tell me sorry. Can I please have my passport? You can’t keep doing this to me all the time,” she said.
She explained that he passport has been previously seized, to be released later to her after she sought the help of an influential person in the country.
According to her, “I’ve been standing here for the past 20 minutes. Why are you doing this? What have I committed? The last time it had to take someone influential to call you to release my passport. That was what allowed me travel.
“Now again, you’re withholding my passport while I’m making calls. Is Godswin Akpabio so important? Why is he overruling boundaries? Godswin Akpabio, the Senate President, has instructed the Comptroller General of Customs to deny me exit, to withhold my passport. This is wrong.
“Yes, I know I have two federal government cases against me, of which the president of Nigeria instructed the AGF to cancel the cases, to withdraw the cases.
“This president, Bola Tinubu, actually spoke with Godwin Akpabio to terminate all the cases against me because he admitted, he agreed that they were politically witch-hunting cases. So there is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the international airport.
“There is no reason why. You have no right to do that, madam. You have no right. You are taking laws into your hands. There is no court order. I have not missed any of my court appearances.
“I have attended all my court sessions. I am not a flight risk. I am not a risk to my country. So why are you treating me like a criminal? Can I have my passport, please? Thank you very much. Sometimes I think you just have to be a rebel to get things right. Then you keep asking Nigerians to be good citizens.”
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan returned to the Senate last month after serving six months suspension, due to the clash she had with Akpabio on the floor of the Assembly in March this year.
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