Confusion over travel ban list as Presidency, Immigration, Customs differ

There is confusion over the list of over 50 high-profile
Nigerians placed on a travel ban by the Federal Government last
Saturday as security agencies, including the Nigeria Immigration
Service and Nigeria Customs Service have said the list is not with
them.

However, the Presidency insisted on Friday that the travel ban
list had been sent to the various security agencies through the
Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

President Muhammadu Buhari had last Saturday announced that
security agencies, including the NIS, had placed over 50
high-profile Nigerians on a watch list and restricted them from
leaving the country, pending the determination of their corruption
cases with the various security agencies.

The development followed the judicial affirmation of the
constitutionality and legality of the Executive Order 6 by the
Federal High Court sitting in Abuja last Thursday.

Buhari spoke through his Senior Special Assistant (Media and
Publicity), Garba Shehu, in a statement issued in Abuja.

“To this end, a number of enforcement procedures are currently
in place by which the Nigeria Immigration Service and other
security agencies have placed no fewer than 50 high-profile persons
directly affected by EO6 on watch list and restricted them from
leaving the country, pending the determination of their cases,” the
statement titled, ‘Buhari directs implementation of EO6 in full
force’, had read in part.

We don’t have travel ban list –Immigration, Customs

However, the NIS spokesman, James Sunday, told Saturday PUNCH on
Friday that the Immigration had not received any list detailing
names of corrupt persons, adding that the service would enforce the
travel ban whenever it got such list and directive.

“We have not received the travel ban list; we are a law
enforcement agency, our service will fully enforce whatever
directive the Federal Government gives to us. So, once the
directive (travel ban) is given, we are going to comply. We are an
enforcement agency, we don’t have any reason not to comply,” he
told one of our correspondents in a telephone conversation on
Friday.

In the same vein, the NCS on Friday told one of our
correspondents that it had yet to receive any list containing the
names of 50 high-profile Nigerians banned from travelling out of
the country.

According to the Public Relations Officer, NCS, Joseph Attah,
the Federal Government has yet to send such a list to the
service.

He said, “There’s none of such as far as I know. I’ve not seen
any such list as I speak with you. However, if there is any
development that is necessary to let the public know about, I’ll
let you know.”

Furthermore, investigations by one of our correspondents showed
that the Department of State Services was also not given a list
containing the names of those being barred from leaving the
country.

Sources close to the security agencies, however, said that there
were individual names that had either been placed either on watch
list or stopped from travelling by courts.

These individuals, the sources added, were being watched.

One of the sources said, “We have names of individuals that had
been on watch lists for some time. There are some who have been
barred from travelling by courts and so on. So, those people are
being watched.

“However, I’m not aware of any special list that contains the
names of about 50 people as being speculated in the media.”

Another source noted that some of the popular names trending
online had earlier been barred by courts from travelling.

Travel ban list with security agencies, Presidency
insists

But the Presidency insisted on Friday that the nation’s security
agencies were already in possession of the list of about 50
Nigerians placed on travel ban as part of moves to implement
Executive Order 6 signed by the President.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and
Publicity, Shehu, said this in an interview with one of our
correspondents.

Shehu said the information made available to him by Malami was
that the list had been made available to the security agencies.

The presidential spokesman said he had no reason to doubt the
AGF.

“The AGF has made the list available to them.

“That is the information available to me and I don’t have any
reason to doubt him,” he said.

No travel ban list with us –NIS airport
officials

Security agencies, including the NIS, NCS and the DSS at the
Lagos and Abuja airports also said they had yet to have any new
travel ban list.

Findings at various commands of the immigration indicated that
the NIS had not received the names of those to be on the watch
list.

A source at the NIS command in Lagos which oversees the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport Immigration formation, said the
government had yet to send the names affected by the Executive
Order to them.

The official explained that many high-profile individuals whose
names were said to be on the list were seen travelling out of the
country during the week.

“A prominent lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria who is facing
corruption trial and who was mentioned as one of those affected by
the Executive Order was seen travelling out of the country during
the week, but nobody stopped him because there was no directive to
that effect from the government,” the operative explained.

Also, sources in the NIS at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport, Abuja, claimed that they had yet to see the list.

Meanwhile, the Spokesperson for the AGF, Mr. Salihu Isah, could
not be reached for his comments on the level of implementation of
Executive Order 6.

While the calls made to his line failed to connect, the text
message inquiry sent to his phone had yet to be delivered as of the
time of filing this report.

Following the judicial affirmation of the constitutionality and
legality of the Executive Order 6 last Thursday, Buhari had last
Saturday mandated the AGF to implement the order in full force.

Aside the travel ban, Buhari said the financial transactions of
those affected by the travel ban were also being monitored by the
relevant agencies to ensure that the assets were not
dissipated.

Explaining the rationale for the travel ban, a statement by the
President’s media aide had said, “It is instructive to note that
the EO6 was specifically directed to relevant law enforcement
agencies to ensure that all assets within a minimum value of N50m
or equivalent, subject to investigation or litigation are protected
from dissipation by employing all available lawful means, pending
the final determination of any corruption-related matter.”

Meanwhile, the Presidency has refused to make the list
public.

Stating the reason for this, Shehu had in a statement said, “I
want to confirm to you that we have not released any list and we
are not doing so. These cases are well known and to say this or
that name is on it will open the door to further accusations,
including trial by media. The Immigration Service and other
security agencies have the mandate of the President to carry out
enforcement and they will do so giving due respects to individual
rights, in line with the constitution.”

Culled from Punch