Nigerian Immigration has summoned a woman for questioning after she was filmed tearing up her husband’s passport at Lagos airport. The video has been widely shared on social media.
The woman, identified as Favour Igiebor, is seen in the video shouting at her husband as pieces of his Nigerian passport lie on the ground.
She had returned from Europe with her husband and children and landed at Murtala Mohammed airport, where the incident took place in front of dozens of other travellers.
“I tore it,” she was heard to admit.
Authorities said in a statement that they are investigating the matter.
“The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has launched a formal investigation following the circulation of a video on social media showing a female traveller [sic] the destruction of a Nigerian passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
“The person involved has been identified as Ms. Favour Igiebor,” the statement said.
It was noted that destroying the country’s passport is a criminal offense punishable by up to one year in prison.
After the video went viral and garnered a lot of comments, Ms. Igiebor posted her own video. She didn’t go into details, but said she was suffering.
“Look at my eyes – I cry a lot. A lot of people commenting on social media don’t understand what I’m going through.
“You have to ask yourself what happened – don’t just look at the action alone. I have my reasons. I’ve had a lot of family problems. I can’t suffer. I suffered with him.”
She said she had thought about tearing up the passport in Europe, but thought it would cause too much trouble for her husband.
In the airport video, a passenger can be heard saying the couple had problems during the flight.
People were also seen comforting the husband and telling him to calm down.
If charged, she will be the first person to appear in court for destroying a Nigerian passport.
But in recent months, the country has become stricter when it comes to protecting its national symbols, banning the frequent tossing of the national currency, the naira, at social events.
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