The Nigeria Immigration Service has summoned a woman for questioning after she was filmed apparently tearing up her husband’s passport at Lagos airport in a video which has been widely shared on social media.
The woman, identified as Favour Igiebor, was seen shouting at her husband in the video while pieces of the Nigerian passport lay on the floor.
She had returned from Europe alongside her husband and children and landed at the Murtala Mohammed airport where the incident happened in front of dozens of other travellers.
“I tore it,” she was heard admitting. The authorities said in a statement they were looking into the issue.
“The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has launched formal investigation, following the circulation of a video on social media, showing a female traveler [sic] destroying a Nigerian Standard Passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
“The individual involved has been identified as Mrs. Favour Igiebor,” the statement read.
It noted that destroying the country’s passport was a criminal offence, which could be punished by up to a year in prison. After the video went viral, eliciting numerous comments, Mrs Igiebor released her own video. She did not go into details but said she was suffering.
“Look at my eyes – I do cry a lot. Many people commenting on social media don’t understand what I am going through.
“You have to ask what happened – don’t just look at the action alone. I have my reasons. I have gone through a lot of family issues. I cannot be suffering. I suffered with him.”
She said she had thought of tearing up the passport in Europe but decided that would have caused her husband too many problems.
In the video at the airport, one traveller was heard saying the couple had been having issues throughout the flight.
Some people were also seen consoling the husband and telling him to be calm.
If she were to be charged, she would be the first person to be taken to court for destroying the Nigerian passport.
But in recent months, the country has been getting tough on protecting its national symbols, including a clampdown on the common practice of throwing around the national currency, the naira, at social events.