The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reportedly ceased the issuance of three months visa to Nigerians. The announcement was made by Afric Holidays, a travels and tours firm, in a terse statement through its Instagram page on Wednesday.
“Nigerian Passport holders are no longer eligible to three months UAE Tourist Visa,” the statement read, reported This Day. “Nigerian Passport holders are now restricted to one month, 96 hours and 48 hours UAE Tourist Visas till further notice.”
The visa suspension announcement comes a few days after the arrest of five Nigerians for alleged robbery and stealing of Dh 2.3 million Dinars from a Bureau de Change operator in Sharjah area of Dubai. The suspects were identified as Chimuanya Emmanuel Ozoh, Benjamin Nwachukwu Ajah, Kingsley Ikenna Ngoka, Tochukwu Leonard Alisi and Chile Micah Ndunagu.
As per the reports, they smashed into the exchange, broke the glass barrier and stole the money in multiple currencies and fled. All the five suspects were on visitors visas to Dubai.
It currently remains unknown if the new visa policy is a direct consequence of the robbery incident.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Federal Government has condemned the action of five Nigerians arrested for the alleged robbery in UAE. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, condemned the action in a statement by her media aide Abdur-Rahman Balogun on Tuesday in Abuja.
Dabiri-Erewa described the alleged action of the suspects as “despicable and shameful.” She lamented that the suspects disgraced the country in a foreign land. Shewarned Nigerians living abroad to desists from actions that might ruin Nigeria’s image and be good ambassadors of the country.
“We need to tell our brothers behaving badly to behave,” she noted. “Let’s get the names of those involved to name and shame them. One bad apple cannot be allowed to spoil the whole bunch.”
