By – Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. One of the news recently attracting so much comments from spectators and analysts in Nigeria is the issue of cancellation of Visas of 264 Nigerians shortly after they arrived at the King Abdulaziz International AirPort in Jeddah Saudi Arabia on Sunday 11th of November 2023. The passengers were airlifted by Air Peace, the Nigeria’s larger air carrier
This happened when Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu was attending the Saudi-African Economic Summit in Riyadh, the Saudi-Arabian Kingdom Capital.
Initially it was not clear why the passengers ,most of whom were visiting the country for lesser Hajj, were denied entry
The 264 passengers were airlifted from Murtala Muhammad AirPort Lagos and Mallam Aminu Kano International AirPort Kano. But to the consternation of the airline staff,the Saudi Arabian
Authorities announced that all the passengers Visas had been canceled.
This incident occurred barely one week after Air Peace launched a direct flight to Saudi-Arabia.
The Air Peace confirmed that all the passengers were screened from the both two Air Ports in Nigeria and there was no issue with their Visas.
“These were People who were duly issued visas and passed through the advanced passenger information system which is accessible to both authorities in Lagos and Jeddah.We are surprised because this cancellation was announced when the flight already landed.
We are suspecting this is a strategy to frustrate the Nigerian carrier out of the route, some people are definitely not happy with the option Air Peace is providing, the direct flight to Jeddah as against using another foreign airline which attracts higher fares the passengers went through the Advanced Passengers Information System (APIS) during the check-in formalities in Nigeria which was also monitored by the Saudi authorities.” said by a source who pleaded for anonymity.
Nigerian Embassy Interventions
The Nigerian Embassy Intervention succeeded in managing the situation as the Saudi authorities reduced the number of Visas Canceled to 177 from 264
And 18 passengers’ Visas were automatically canceled due to their previous offenses committed in Saudi Arabia
Following the incident Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will conduct a thorough Investigation on the matter to find the root of the situation.
Francisca Omayuli is the Spokesperson of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign affairs .She stated that Nigeria and Saudi-Arabia were investigating the matter and called for calm.
“Notwithstanding the fact that,it is the prerogative of a sovereign nation to determine who is permitted entry into its territory. Saudi and Nigeria are long strategic partners” She added.
Saudi- Kingdom’s response to the matter
In its response to the issue of deporting Nigerians and cancellation of mass visas at the point of entry ,the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Nigeria said that the travelers did not meet the entry conditions and requirements of its Country.
In a statement, the embassy said that passengers denied entry and subsequently deported to their initial destinations,submitted wrong information to obtain a category of visas they did not qualify for.
The discovery was made on their arrival. The Embassy would like to stress the importance of following the procedures and laws enacted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for all visitors.
Furthermore, all passengers should review all documents to determine their conformity with the conditions before departing from their countries to the Kingdom.
This procedure was not limited to Nigerian citizens only; citizens of other countries were involved.”The statement said
Air Peace view and respond
Mr Allen Onyema is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace.He said Air Peace did not breach any rule of engagement in conveying the passengers to Saudi Arabia, adding that the airline got approval and clearance of every procedure required of it before taking off from Nigeria.
Mr Onyeama said Air Peace confirmed that all passengers visas were valid before departing Nigeria.
“The visas were valid as of the time the airline was taking off, approval to fly the passengers through the Advanced Passenger Information System was provided.” Air Peace Chairman said.
Onyeama stated this during an interview with Channels TV recently. He said there are more issues that he would not want to discuss in the media because an investigation is ongoing.
“The Nigerian government said it’s carrying out an investigation. So let’s allow the investigation to take place.
I don’t want to dwell on this. I want decorum and good diplomacy to prevail in this whole thing. I want justice and fairness, that’s all.” He added.
Mr. Onyeama declined to speak on the allegation that some people or companies are trying to frustrate Air Peace traveling to Saudi Arabia as they have enjoyed the monopoly of the route for long, but he said what happened was unusual because we followed every protocol. We are not in the business of issuing visas as an airline. Ours is to verify visas got clearance through the Advanced Passengers Information System (APIS) and we have done all that.
“But I also want to say something here, countries reserve the right to allow or deny anyone entry into its territory even after giving a visa.
In this case, the Saudi Arabian embassy is not denying that the passengers had visas as of the time of leaving Nigeria. However, they are saying that they discovered that the passengers gave incorrect information in obtaining the visas,
By this information, the embassy is inadvertently exonerating Air Peace.” Allen Said
Mr Onyeama said Air Peace had no problems with the Saudi government. We are very used to the Saudi air space. The Saudis didn’t waste any time to give us all necessary permits to operate directly in the Kingdom.
Saudi authorities have been very cooperative with Air Peace and they like the way we performed successfully during the Hajj season.
Even though this dilemma created so much tension among Nigerians both at home and diaspora, there is a need to look critically into the matter, as Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have been enjoying cordial bilateral relations for decades.
To be frank, at the moment Nigerians are looking for every opportunity to leave their country due to the economic hardship so bad eggs among traveling agents are using the opportunity to miss guide travelers on the type of visas they should apply for.
Some analysts think that the visas acquired by the passengers through their traveling agents are meant for business purposes not for lesser Hajj as the majority of the travelers aim to perform that ritual.
Another issue to consider is that 18 out of these passengers denied entry into Saudi Arabia are attributed to committing various offenses in the past , so this country has every right to protect its integrity and disqualify anyone, with whom the country is not comfortable.
Also diplomatically as stated by the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its response to the matter, is the prerogative of every sovereign nation to allow or disallow anybody from entering its territory.
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