NIS launches investigation into viral video of a woman mutilating Nigerian passport at Lagos airport
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has initiated an investigation following a viral video showing a woman tearing a Nigerian passport, purportedly belonging to her husband.
The incident which happened Monday at the arrival lounge international wing of the Murtala Muhammed airport Lagos has generated widespread condemnation with many online posts describing the act as vandalism of government property.
In a statement released in Abuja, NIS spokesperson Kenneth Udo confirmed that the individuals involved have been identified and summoned for further investigation.
Udo emphasised that if the allegations are proven true, the woman’s actions would violate Section 10(b) of the Immigration Act 2015, which could result in severe penalties as outlined under Section 10(h).
He reiterated the NIS’s commitment to enforcing the Immigration Act, stressing the importance of national security and the integrity of the country’s legal documents.
In the viral video, the woman could be heard angrily responding to a cue on why the passport is torn, “Is it your passport?.
She sarcastically told her visibly shocked husband, “If you want to sleep there, sleep there, this is Nigeria, this is where you will be,” as she led their children away.
The quoted section of the Miscellaneous Provisions of the Act enumerates the punishment for the mutilation of the Nigerian Passport as:
“A person who alters or assists another in altering travel document or who produces or, reproduces, or assists in the production or reproduction of any travel document without lawful authority, commits an offence under section 59 of then Act and is liable on conviction to a term of five years imprisonment or to a fine of One Million Naira or both.
“A person guilty of an offence under the Act, where no specific penalty is provided, is liable on conviction to a term of one year imprisonment or a fine of One Hundred Thousand Naira or both and the Court may, if it thinks fit, order the deportation of the offender.”
