David Adedeji, popularly known as Davido that officers at Murtala Mohammed
International Airport (MMIA) refused him departure because he refused to
bribe them.
According to a statement issued in Abuja by NIS spokesman, Chukwuemeka
Obua, contrary to Davido's claim, he was prevented from traveling on
Thursday, May 8 because he could not present his Nigerian passport.
The full text of the NIS statement read thus:
"The attention of the Comptroller General (CG) of Nigerian Immigration Service
has been drawn to an incident that occurred on Thursday 8th May, 2014
between officers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA),
Ikeja and a Nigerian musician named Mr. David Adedeji Adeleke (a. k. a.
Davido) (here -in – after referred to as Mr. Adeleke).
"Mr. Adeleke had approached Immigration Officers at MMIA on the fateful
with the intention of traveling out of the country and presented a US passport
# 460918874 issued at Georgia on 14 December, 2009 and valid till 14th
December, 2019. The officer that attended to him drew his attention to the
fact that his US passport has no Nigerian visa on it with which he would have
been admitted into the country. He responded that he has a Nigerian passport
but forgot it at home. The officer now informed him that he should go and
bring the Nigerian passport to convince him that he did not enter Nigeria
illegally with a foreign passport without visa.
"Mr. Adeleke started arguing with the officer who had to refer the case to his
superiors. The verdict here too was that he can not make the trip unless he
produces the said Nigerian passport. Livid with anger Mr. Adeleke in company
of his bodyguards started protesting in a disorderly manner prompting the
Comptroller of Immigration in – charge at MMIA to intervene. He advised Mr.
Adeleke to call his bodyguards to order and comply with the lawful instruction
which would not only erase any doubt as to his immigration status but also
establish his claim to dual citizenship.
"Mr. Adeleke left and on the following day being Friday 9th May, 2014
produced his Nigerian e passport # A02227477 issued at Abuja on 13th
August, 2010 and valid till 12th August, 2015. This passport was endorsed/
stamped and he then proceeded on his trip.
"However, Mr. Adeleke had posted a damning and defamatory message on
Instangram, a social media outlet where he alleged that officers at MMIA
refused him departure because he refused to bribe them. This behavior of Mr.
Adeleke is quiet unfortunate, One would ordinarily have expected some form
of commendation from him for the professional manner the Officers who
attended to him conducted, themselves especially in saving him from eminent
embarrassment at some international port of entry by ensuring that his
passport is endorsed as is the law and practice in Nigeria .
"The intention of this release is not to join issues with Mr. Adeleke but to set
the facts of the incident, as it happened at MMIA on the said day straight. The
CG wishes to use to use this medium to appeal to Nigerians to exercise
patience and cooperate with officers at their duty posts so as to be of better
service to them.
" The CG will also advise Nigerians not to encourage or indulge but to report
promptly any officer who by words or deeds happen to be seeking gratification
before performing his/her lawful duty. All officers in uniform wear/carry
name tags (and at the airports, special duty cards) by which they can be
identified,"Obua stated.
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