Woman risks jail term for tearing husband's passport in Lagos

There are indications that Mrs Favour Igiebor, the woman who tore her husband’s passport after they arrived in Nigeria, risks a year jail term for the act.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has launched a formal investigation into a viral video showing a female traveller destroying a Nigerian Standard Passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos on Saturday, August 10.

The NIS made the disclosure after Nigerians called out the Service for watching the woman walk away from the airport without questioning her actions.

They said there is no country in the world where a person would tear the passport of another individual inside an airport and not get arrested by immigration officials.

According to the NIS, if found guilty, she will be prosecuted under Section 1 (1) of the Passport (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, which stipulates that tampering with a Nigerian passport is a criminal offence.

Section 2 of the Act says: “Any person found guilty of an offence under paragraphs (b) to (i) of subsection (1) of this section is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.”

When The Guardian reached out to the Service, it said it was looking into the matter.

Responding, Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Kenneth Udo, disclosed that the individual involved has been identified as MrsFavourIgiebor, holding passport number A11990869.

“In response to this incident, the Comptroller General of Immigration, KemiNandap, has directed that MrsFavourIgiebor be invited for further investigation. If the allegations are substantiated, her actions would constitute a breach of Section 10(b) of the Immigration Act 2015 (as amended) with corresponding penalties outlined under Section 10(h) of the same Act.

“The Nigeria Immigration Service remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the provisions of the Immigration Act in the interest of national security and to preserve the dignity and integrity of the nation’s legal instruments.”

Also, in a seven-minute video posted online, Igiebor said she decided to get to Nigeria before tearing her husband’s passport and that her action was justified.

She said, “I am the lady who had an issue with her husband before she came to Nigeria. This issue has been going on for a long time, but I have been dancing to the tune until I arrived in my motherland, Nigeria, and it just happened. I did what I did.

“People should not look at the action alone. I am not a mad woman who will just act that way. I have my reasons; I have gone through so many things. To some of you commenting, what if I’d done this thing in Europe, where we came from? I didn’t want him to go through a lot of stress, and that is why I did it in Nigeria. So, I don’t care about what people are writing.

“They say action speaks louder than voice. I did that to show that I have been bearing it. We put on the same shoes and shirt; I have to do that because I have my plan. You don’t know a woman’s mind, and that is just the truth. Come and hold me responsible. I cry every day after three kids, and one man wants to send me back to where I don’t know.

“I want to reap what I have sowed. So, let me reap what I have sowed with him. That is all I have to say.”