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news
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Senator
Nazif Protests Treatment by United States
Customs and Immigration Service
Wednesday March 11,2009 |
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newsdiaryonline.com |
Action Congress (AC) Senator representing Bauchi
North, Sulaiman Nazif says he plans to lodge a
protest at the United States Embassy in Abuja
following what he called his “unfair and undignified
treatment” by the immigration at the Washington -
Dulles Airport on Saturday .
Senator Nazif was turned back at the airport and
asked to return to London from where he came
because, according to the immigration, he “was not
admissible to the U.S. You (the Senator) have to go
back to Nigeria to obtain another Visa”.
Narrating his ordeal, Senator Nazif revealed that he
had a valid American Visa issued on 31st December,
2008 to expire on March 15th 2009 by the U.S.
Embassy in Abuja. “I did not request to go to
America. The coordinator of the transition from one
Government to another Government in the Embassy
called to inform me of my nomination to go to the
U.S. as a guest of their government to witness the
inauguration of the new President, Barack Obama and
participate in the programme on transition organized
by the International Visitors and Leaders Centre of
the U.S. State Department..
“I told the programme coordinator that their
programme clashed with my participation at the
retreat organized at Minna, Niger State for the
members of the National Assembly Committee on
Constitutional Amendment. I therefore requested to
have my U.S. trip deferred to a later date”. Senator
Nazif said when he was asked to state his mission to
the U.S. at the point of entry, he disclosed to the
immigration that he had a deferred session he wished
to attend at the International Visitors and Leaders
Section of the State Department.
He regretted that the immigration did not seem to be
impressed with this and was told that since the
presidential inauguration and the Visitors Programme
were both over, there was no basis for him to enter
the United States. He said when they asked him to
withdraw his application for the Visa, he declined
to do so, on the basis that the U.S. Embassy in
Abuja which chose him for the programme processed
the Visa
request. He however wrote to withdraw the Visa upon
the insistence of the U.S. immigration.
Following this disagreement, the U.S. Customs and
Immigration Service (USCIS) requested the Senator to
abandon his plan to enter the U.S., which he
politely did and returned to London.
Senator Nazif said he plans to protest his
disrespectful treatment by the U.S. Customs and
Immigration Service (USCIS) upon his return to
Nigeria later in the week.
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