Immigration Service has held on to the passport of #EndSARS promoter, Modupe Odele, for the fifth straight day and has refused to disclose reasons for seizing the passport.
Odele, who provided legal assistance to protesters who were unjustly arrested by the authorities, was stopped at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Sunday on her way to the Maldives through Dubai.
On Thursday, she tweeted, “Today is the 5th day that my passport is still being held after it was seized at the Lagos international airport. If there’s no no-fly list, that’s okay but why has my passport not been released yet?
“Holding on to my passport without giving me any reason for it is a breach of my constitutional right. I’ve not been informed of any investigation against me, I’m not running. I am here. Investigate. Ask me questions but do not continue to hold on to my passport for no reason.
“November 1, I was stopped and my passport was taken some minutes before boarding this flight. No reason was given, other than ‘you are under investigation’ today is November 5, I still do not have my passport back neither have I been told what the investigation is about.”
The Spokesman for the NIS, Mr. Sunday James, said he had no information on the matter when The PUNCH reached out to him on Thursday.
“I still have not been briefed on the matter and I have no information on it”, James said
The government seems to have clamped down on notable persons who took part in the #EndSARS protest which rocked the nation.
Bank accounts of persons who handled some of the funds raised by the protesters, have been frozen by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
‘My passport has not been released’ — #EndSARS advocate cries out
by The Cable
Modupe Odele, a member of the Feminist Coalition, says her passport is yet to be returned five days after it was seized by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Oladele had earlier narrated how her passport was seized at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Sunday, while on her way to the Maldives to celebrate her birthday.
She said the officer who accosted her explained that the action was ordered “from above”, and that she saw a poster where she was declared wanted.
An online news outlet had reported that a no-fly list of “hundreds of Nigerians” the government suspects of energising the #EndSARS protest is being compiled.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the ministry of interior dismissed the claim, saying it is fake news.
However, Oladele, a lawyer, who offered legal aid to persons arrested during the demonstrations, wondered why her passport is yet to be released if truly the government does not have a no-fly list.
“Today is the 5th day that my passport is still being held after it was seized at the Lagos international airport. If there’s no no-fly list, that’s okay but why has my passport not being released yet?” Oladele asked in a tweet.
“First of November, I was stopped and my passport taken some minutes to boarding this flight. No reason was given, other than “you are under investigation” today is 5th of November, I still do not have my passport back neither have I been told what the investigation is about.”
She argued that withholding her passport without any justification is a breach of her rights, adding that she’s available to be questioned if need be.
“Holding on to my passport without giving me any reason for it is a breach of my constitutional right. I’ve not been informed of any investigation against me, I’m not running. I am here. Investigate. Ask me questions but do not continue to hold on to my passport with NO reasons,” she said.
The Punch