LAGOS (Sundiata Post) – The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has launched a formal investigation into the trending video on social media, showing a female traveler destroying a Nigerian Standard Passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The agency, in a statement by its spokesman, Kenneth Udo, warned that if the allegations were substantiated, her actions would be a breach of Section 10(b) of the Immigration Act 2015 (as amended).
According to the statement: “The individual has been identified and invited for further investigation. 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,” Immigration stressed in the statement.
According to the Passport (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, it is unlawful to alter, tamper with or mutilate any passport or any pages thereof. Any person found guilty of such offence shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years without the option of a fine.
The lady at the centre of the row identified as Mrs. Favour Igiebor, has broken her silence in a video she released after her act at the airport caused a stir on social media.
She said she had thought of shredding the passport in Europe but decided that would have caused her husband too many problems.
However, she has apologised to the Nigeria immigration Service (NIS).
Accepting her error, Igiebor said: “I was not supposed to do what I did. Yeah, I know. That is where so many people got me. Why would I tear his passport? It’s against Nigerian law, it’s against Nigerian rules. I know that, I know. What do I say to Nigerian immigration? I’m very sorry, but to be sincere, I did it for my husband not to go back because I have seen so many things.”
She narrated her many harrowing experiences with her husband while abroad. “I’ve gone through pains, heart pain, pains that give me a headache. You don’t know what I’m passing through. I pray you will not experience what I’ve just passed through.”
She added: “You have to ask what happened – don’t just look at the action alone. I have my reasons. I have gone through a lot of family issues. I cannot be suffering. I suffered with him….
“I have come across a lot of comments, people insulting me—even my fellow gender who don’t understand are also insulting me.”
The woman challenged those calling for her arrest to hold her accountable, expressing the emotional trauma her marriage had caused her. “I cry every night and day even after having three children. I want to enjoy what I suffered for with him.”
She also criticised her husband’s recent attempts to appease her with gifts, noting that they were insufficient to address the pain in their relationship.
“He bought me an iPhone, yes, just to make me calm and everything, but these things have been going on for years. He knew that I hadn’t forgotten it. Out of anger, I told him that in Nigeria, I don’t think we will return. He looked at me, that’s why he got me the iPhone as a gift, thinking everything is gone. I now have heart pain and headaches because of this and you guys are insulting me.”
