The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has stated why 177 Nigerians’ visas were revoked and they were denied entry into the country upon their arrival in Jeddah on Monday, November 13.
The Saudi government stated that the affected passengers, out of a total of 264 on the plane, did not fulfill the entry conditions and requirements in accordance with the Kingdom’s applicable rules and regulations, as they provided incorrect information to obtain a category of visa that did not apply to them, which was discovered upon their arrival in Jeddah.
The flight took off from Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos via MAKIA on Sunday night and arrived in Saudi Arabia’s major city of Jeddah without incident on Monday morning.
When it arrived in Jeddah, Saudi authorities declared that they had invalidated the visas of all 264 passengers flown by Air Peace from Kano’s Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), insisting that the airline return them to Nigeria.
The Federal Government then issued a statement urging affected Nigerians to remain calm as the situation was investigated. Following that, 87 passengers were allowed to enter the nation, while the remaining 177 passengers were instructed to board the Air Peace flight back to Nigeria.
The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Abuja said in a statement that the action was not directed at Nigerians because the laws apply to residents of other nations, emphasizing the importance of all visitors to the Kingdom adhering to established norms and regulations.
“The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Abuja would like to make a clarification about the media reports and Social Media releases concerning the deportation of Nigerian citizens at the point of entry into the Kingdom. The passengers whom were denied entry, and subsequently deported to their initial destinations, didn’t fulfill the entry conditions and requirements in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the Kingdom, as they submitted incorrect information to obtain a category of visa that doesn’t apply to them, which was discovered upon their arrival.
The Royal 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 the documents to determine their conformity with the conditions prior departing from their countries to the Kingdom.
This procedure was not limited to Nigerian citizens only, but rather to citizens of other countries,” the Embassy stated.
