“No Court Order, No Offence” — Sen. Natasha Akpoti fumes over passport seizure

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP/Kogi Central) has alleged that her passport was seized by immigration officers at an airport, preventing her from travelling abroad.

The lawmaker, who recently marked her second year in the Senate by commissioning projects in Kogi Central, went live on Instagram as she confronted immigration officials over the alleged confiscation of her passport.

In a video obtained on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of ordering the seizure, describing it as an unlawful restriction of her movement and a violation of her fundamental rights.

“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 travelling even though I had committed no offence, and there was no court order restricting me. The last time this happened, the officer in charge told me that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, instructed them to withhold my passport and prevent me from travelling because he claimed that each time I go abroad, I ‘spoil the image of the country’ by granting interviews to international media,” she added.

According to her, it took the intervention of an influential individual before her passport was released the last time such an incident occurred.

“Godswill Akpabio has instructed the Controller General of Customs to withhold my passport. This is wrong,” she insisted.

The senator also alleged that President Bola Tinubu had directed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, to withdraw all cases in court filed by the Federal Government against her.

Her passport was later released by the immigration officials after the confrontation.