Nov. 14, 2023

The Federal government says it is investigating the cancellation of visas of 264 passengers, who were airlifted to Jeddah from Lagos and Kano on Sunday, by the Saudi authorities.

Dis was disclosed in a statement by special adviser to the minister of Foreign affairs Al-Kasim Abdulkadir.

According to him,  the ministry of Foreign Affairs is now investigating the matter to see if any Consular or aviation rules have been flouted.

The statement says, Nigeria has just participated in the Saudi Africa summit where bilateral discussions covering several sectors of the economy and mutually beneficial commitments were made between the two countries.

Al-Kasim indicated that despite the fact that the passengers went through the advanced passengers information system (APIS) during the check-in formalities in Nigeria, it was also monitored by the Saudi authorities.

He said however, it was learnt that it was when the Nigerian embassy waded in that the Saudi authorities reduced the number of passengers that would be returned to 177 from 264.