EndSARS protest promoter, @Mochievous, barred from traveling on Monday
Embarrassed at the backlash this will trigger among Nigerians, the Federal Government has denied generating a ‘no-fly list’ of youths and persons who participated in the recent #EndSARS protests against police brutality.
The Federal Ministry of Interior said via a tweet on Tuesday in reaction to a media report that the Nigerian governemnt have started collating a no-fly list of Nigerians that energised the #EndSARS protest last month.
Reacting, @MinOfInteriorNG wrote, “The Ministry of Interior did not, has not and will not generate any no-fly list. Ignore fake news, please!”
The Nigeria Immigration Service had on Monday prevented a promoter of the #EndSARS protests, Modupe Odele, from travelling out of the country.
Although the officers did not disclose the reason for their action, it is believed that the action was taken because of her alleged role in the #EndSARS protests.
Odele, had through her Twitter handle, @Mochievous, mobilised her 219,000 followers during the protests.
She had also offered free legal aid to persons who were unjustly arrested during the demonstrations.
Confirming the development in a newsletter sent out on Monday, the lawyer said she was on her way to the Maldives to celebrate her birthday when she was accosted by immigration officers.
She wrote, “For my birthday, I had planned a trip to the Maldives. It was really for a break as the events of the last three weeks have exhausted my mind and body in a way I have never been exhausted in my life.
“I went to the airport, passed through immigration, and while I was putting my bags through the body and baggage scanner, the immigration officer who had previously cleared me, called me back. He told me he had orders from above to detain me.
“Okay, at this point I’m like excuse me, my flight is in an hour. On what grounds are you detaining me?” He didn’t respond. Instead, he goes to his computer where he typed in my name and something that looked like a ‘wanted poster’ popped up on the portal.
“He blocked my view so I couldn’t see most of it but I saw some of it. And it read something like – ‘This person is under investigation by XYZ Intelligence Agency. If seen, they should be apprehended on sight.’”
Odele said she was detained while her passport was seized by the officers and she was made to miss her flight.
