The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has denied claims that it withheld the passport of the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Spokesperson for the NIS, Akinsola Akinlabi, made the clarification during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday.
Akinlabi explained that the incident was part of standard immigration protocol, stating that officers were merely carrying out their statutory duties.
“NIS didn’t seize the distinguished senator’s passport, but rather she went through routine immigration checks and was allowed to travel.
“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 said.
The immigration spokesperson further stated that the Kogi senator recorded her video during the regular process but did not share an update after being cleared to board her flight.
Natasha had earlier alleged that her international passport was withheld and that she was prevented from travelling.
