177 Deported Nigerians Violated S’Arabian Visa Rules -Embassy …Air Peace Kicks, Faults Claims

The Embassy of Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, said the visas of 177 Air Peace passengers from Nigeria upon Arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were cancelled for violating the country’s entry rules.
The Federal Government had on Tuesday noted that according to reports it received from the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah.
Air Peace Flight No. P4-752 airlifted 264 passengers from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos and the Aminu Kano International Airport and landed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport – Hajj Terminal Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday, November 13, 2023.
It was on arrival at the Hajj Terminal that the Saudi Immigration authorities informed the passengers that their visas had been cancelled.
Consequently, 177 passengers were made to return on the same flight back to Nigeria while 87 passengers were cleared by Saudi immigration and allowed entry into Jeddah.
Defending the decision in a statement on Wednesday, the Saudi Embassy in Abuja, said the deported Nigerians submitted incorrect information to obtain a category of visa that did not apply to them, which was discovered upon their arrival.
“The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Abuja would like to make a clarification about the media reports and social media releases concerning the deportation of Nigerian citizens at the point of entry into the Kingdom.
“The passengers, who were denied entry, and subsequently deported to their initial destinations, did not fulfill the entry conditions and requirements in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the Kingdom, as they submitted incorrect information to obtain a category of visa that does not apply to them, which was discovered upon their arrival,” the statement said.
The Royal Embassy stressed the importance of following the procedures and laws enacted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for all visitors, advising that “all passengers should review all the documents to determine their conformity with the conditions prior to departing from their countries to the Kingdom.
“This procedure was not limited to Nigerian citizens only, but rather to citizens of other countries”.
Responding to Saudi Arabia’s claim, Air Peace, in a statement published on the company’s X (formerly Twitter) and signed by the airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Oluwatoyin Olajide, said that the visa cancellation was not the fault of the company.
According to Air Peace, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided a visa confirmation platform that was used to verify the passengers’ visas before they were allowed to check in for the flight.
The statement read, “The visas of all passengers on the said flight to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia were checked and verified through the requisite procedures and were vetted to be valid before departure,” Air Peace said.
“The visas were verified using the visa confirmation platform provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia, which confirmed the validity of each passenger visa before passengers were allowed to check-in for the flight.
“All the visas of the 264 passengers were duly verified, confirmed, and accepted as authentic for the trip through the visa portal provided by the Saudi Arabia authorities, if not, no passengers would have been able to depart from Nigeria.
“This is just one of two steps required before a passenger is accepted on the flight to Saudi Arabia. The next step is the use of the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS). We equally used this system to determine the admissibility or otherwise of each passenger on that flight.”
Air Peace stated that the names of the passengers were sent to Saudi Arabia’s national travel security center before the company’s flight took off from Nigeria.
“The APIS was live between Air Peace’s reservation system and the Saudi Arabia National Travel Security Center carrier portal to transmit passenger details prior to departure, to the Saudi authorities in order to further determine the admissibility or otherwise of the passengers,” the airline said.
“No Notice of Cancellation or any form of denial from the Saudi authorities was received against any of these passengers despite the live transmission of their details.
“Furthermore, the Passenger manifest containing the names of all passengers on board the flight was sent ahead to the Saudi Arabia National Travel Security Center carrier portal before the flight departure, yet no Notice of Visa Cancellation was received against any of these passengers.”
“While we empathize with the affected passengers for this development and assure them of our full compliance with the provisions guiding international travels, we wish to state that up till this moment, the Saudi Arabian authorities have not provided any explanation for the sudden and unexpected cancellation of the visas,” the airline noted.