Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), under the leadership of Abike Dabiri, has requested that the Cape Verdean immigration authorities release six Nigerian tourists currently in their custody.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Commission indicated that the tourists, who had traveled to Cape Verde from Senegal for vacation, were detained for allegedly having insufficient funds, and their phones were confiscated during the incident.
The agency said, “The attention of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission has been drawn to a case of 6 Nigerians tourists that traveled from Senegal to Cape Verde Island on a vacation.
“On arrival at Cape Verde, they were pulled out of the line. They were accused of not having enough funds and their phones confiscated. They were subsequently locked up in an immigration deportation camp at the airport,” the Commission explained.
The agency said the detained Nigerian tourists include: David James Udoh, Lily Dada, Oghenero Adaware, Sherifat Abimbola Ogundairo and Jesutomi Aina, while the travel companies are Irin travels and Far Away.
According to NIDCOM, reports from the immigration detention centre indicated that the detained Nigerians are currently experiencing distress and trauma with one of them having a medical condition without access to his drugs.
NiDCOM. therefore, appealed to the immigration authorities in Cape Verde to treat the tourists with respect and dignity and “put them on the next immediate return flight to Dakar for onward connection back to Nigeria.”
“The families of these young Nigerians ranging between 25 and 31 have been expectedly worried about the safety of their children,” the statement added.
NiDCOM stated that the case has been reported to the Consular and Migration Directorate in the ministry of foreign affairs.
