Nigerian Immigration Service officers briefly disrupted travel Thursday morning when they confiscated suspended Kogi Central lawmaker Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s international passport as she was preparing to board a British Airways flight to London at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
According to airport witnesses, immigration officials stopped the Senator after identifying her as a “national security risk” when she and her husband, Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan, arrived at the airport’s international terminal.
Just before the flight headed for London began to board, the incident happened early on July 24, 2025. According to travelers, Senator Natasha maintained her composure and insisted that the officers lacked the legal right to confiscate her passport.
“The court never authorised this. She was heard telling the officers, “You have no right to hold my passport,” and pleading with them to let her continue. Suspicions of political meddling were heightened when the Senator was not given an official explanation at the time of the seizure. As the delay continued, her husband, Chief Uduaghan, was observed making a string of urgent phone calls.
The senator was able to quickly go through immigration and board her flight in time after her passport was returned a few minutes later without a formal explanation. Travelers began to whisper about the incident, and onlookers described it as an unnecessary embarrassment and a possible abuse of institutional power.
On the subject, neither the Senate President’s office nor the Nigeria Immigration Service have released a statement.
