The federal government has denied putting names of #EndSARS protesters on a no-fly list.
The Federal Ministry of Interior made this known in a tweet on Tuesday in reaction to a media report by an online publication.
The online publication alleged that the Nigerian authorities had begun collating a no-fly list of Nigerians that lead 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 Ministry also shared a short notice on its official handle stating that “No-fly list generation is not the responsibility of the Ministry or its associated agency.”
This is coming after a prominent #ENDSARS mobiliser, Modupe Odele, was stopped from travelling by Nigeria Immigration Service on Sunday.
Odele, a lawyer and member of the feminist coalition group was actively involved in the #EndSARS campaign through her twitter handle @Mochievous, offering legal aid to persons who were unjustly arrested during the demonstrations.
The lawyer said she was detained and her passport seized at Murtala Mohammed International airport, Lagos.
In a newsletter sent out on Monday, the lawyer who confirmed the development said she was prevented from travelling out of Nigeria possibly because of her alleged role in the #EndSARS protests.
According to her, she was on her way to the Maldives to celebrate her birthday when she was accosted by immigration officers who seized her passport and later detained her.
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.”
The Nigeria Immigration Service is yet to explain the reason why Odele was stopped at the airport, but has continued to receive backlash on social media.
However Odele has tweeted early Tuesday explaining that she is fine and safe. “Hello everyone. Thank you so much. I’m fine and I’m safe. We haven’t confirmed yet why I was stopped on Sunday or by whom. But I’ve been invited back in with my lawyers today. I’ll update when I have more information but please don’t spread false news. That is dangerous,” she said.
