Natasha Akpoti Blames Akpabio As Immigration Seize Her Passport At Airport [Video]

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, has accused immigration officers of stopping her from traveling abroad and seizing her passport without any legal reason.

The senator made the claim during a live broadcast on her Facebook page on Tuesday morning, where she could be heard questioning the officers.

“Have I committed any offence? Why are you withholding my passport?” she said.

Natasha Akpoti explained that the incident happened shortly after celebrating her second year in office.

“Having completed my second-year celebration, I decided to take a week off. I’m at the airport, and my passport has been withheld again,” she said.

She also recalled facing a similar situation in the past, alleging that it was done on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The lawmaker insisted that there was no official directive or court order justifying the action.

“The last time this happened, the officer said Senator Akpabio instructed them to prevent me from travelling. He said each time I travel, I smear the country’s image through international interviews.

“This is wrong. There was no order. Yes, I know I have two federal government cases against me, of which the president of Nigeria instructed the AGF to cancel the cases, to withdraw the cases.

“This president actually spoke with Godswill Akpabio to terminate all the cases against me because he admitted, he agreed that they were politically witch-hunting cases.

“So there is no reason why my passport should be withheld at the international airport. There is no reason why,” she said.

Clearly frustrated, Akpoti-Uduaghan threatened to take legal action against the officers involved.

“You have no right to withhold my passport or deny me exit from my country. I have committed no offence, and this must stop.

“I think I have to sue you for continuously embarrassing me. You can’t keep doing this every time.

The Kogi senator questioned why her passport keeps being seized despite her compliance with court procedures.

“You have no right. You are taking the law into your hands. There is no court order. I have not missed any of my court appearances. I have attended all my court sessions. I am not a flight risk. I am not a risk to my country. So why are you treating me like a criminal?” she said.

Moments later, one of the officers returned her passport.

“Can I have my passport, please? Thank you very much. Sometimes you just have to be a rebel to get things right. If I had not gone public, would you have given me my passport?” the senator asked.

During the livestream, immigration officials were heard apologizing and trying to calm her down.

At the time filing this report, neither Senator Godswill Akpabio nor the Nigerian Immigration Service had issued a response to her claims.

The incident comes amid the senator’s ongoing legal and political clashes with powerful figures in the government.

Watch the video below:

KanyiDaily recalls that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan recently invited Godswill Akpabio and other lawmakers for a project commissioning in Kogi State.