ABUJA, Nigeria — A brief but tense incident unfolded at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Thursday, July 24, 2025, when Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan‘s international passport was temporarily seized by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The senator, who represents Kogi Central in the National Assembly, was preparing to board a British Airways flight to London when she was flagged by immigration officers and prevented from proceeding through border control.
According to witnesses, Akpoti-Uduaghan arrived at the airport accompanied by her husband, Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan, and was stopped during routine checks shortly before boarding.
Sources at the airport said the officers informed her that she had been listed as a “national security risk,” prompting the seizure of her travel document.
“The court never authorised this. You have no right to hold my passport,” the senator was heard telling the officials, according to an eyewitness account.
Akpoti-Uduaghan reportedly remained calm during the incident and insisted that no legal grounds existed for withholding her travel documents.
Witnesses described Chief Uduaghan making a series of urgent phone calls as the situation escalated, while travellers looked on with concern.
The delay lasted several minutes before the passport was returned to the senator without explanation, enabling her to proceed through immigration clearance and board her flight.
