There was tension at a Nigerian airport on Monday after officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) allegedly seized Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s international passport, preventing her from traveling abroad.
The lawmaker, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), went live on Instagram during the incident, accusing the officers of acting on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In the video, which quickly went viral, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed frustration over what she described as a deliberate attempt to intimidate her and restrict her movement.
“Hello, fellow Nigerians. I’m Senator Natasha. Having completed my second year in office, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport here, and my passport has been withheld again,” she said.
“This same thing happened before when I was stopped from traveling even though I had committed no offense, and there was no court order restricting me.
The officer in charge told me that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, instructed them to withhold my passport because he claimed that each time I go abroad, I ‘spoil the image of the country’ by granting interviews to international media.”
The senator’s live broadcast has generated widespread reactions online, with Nigerians expressing outrage over what many described as a violation of her constitutional right to freedom of movement.
The development comes just days after Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan marked her second anniversary in the Senate, where she commissioned several constituency projects across Kogi Central.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Nigeria Immigration Service nor the Office of the Senate President has released an official statement addressing the senator’s claim.
