TheCable

Following the recent cases of Nigerians stranded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has warned against a resort to blackmail.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the NiDCOM chairperson, said this on Thursday in a statement issued Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the commission’s spokesman.

On September 1, a Twitter user, @dunchichi, said some Nigerians were detained at the Dubai International Airport in the UAE despite having valid documents.

In a response to the viral tweet, Dabiri-Erewa said attempts to circumvent the new UAE visa rules were the reason for the frequent deportations.

The rules require that Nigerian passengers “must have a hotel booking or proof of accommodation address for the whole period of intended stay,” but this does not apply to persons with resident visas.

Among other regulations, the rules provide that “deportation on the same flight will follow if sponsor (or representative) is not present at the time of passenger’s arrival at the airport”.

Speaking in the statement, Dabiri-Erewa described the resort to social media by stranded Nigerians in the UAE as a futile effort, saying it would “make an already bad case worse”.

She said her warning was in response to posts seen on some social media blogs on Wednesday saying “300 Nigerians abandoned in Dubai as NIDCOM, NAPTIP, Foreign Affairs relax evacuation effort”.

Refuting the claims, she said the evacuation of the stranded Nigerians had been approved, adding that some affected persons have not been “totally cooperative as they refused to follow the laid down procedures”.

The NIDCOM boss said despite several warnings by the federal government through its relevant agencies on the consequences of illegal migration to the UAE and other countries, it was regrettable that some Nigerians still found themselves as victims.