Vice President Ahmed Afif of Seychelles has confirmed his country’s decision to impose far-reaching restrictions on Nigerians seeking to travel to the West Indian Ocean country.
Mr Afif said his Seychelles immigration authorities had been instructed to permit Nigerians with diplomatic passports and residential permits access into the country. Nigerians seeking to enter Seychelles as tourists or new immigrants have been banned indefinitely, the vice president said, according to Seychelles News Agency.
Mr Afih said his country was able to link Nigerians to numerous criminal activities, especially drug-trafficking and online fraud syndicates.
“We have seen a clear link between this with certain people from Nigeria. In the past two weeks, for example, 13 people coming from Nigeria have been arrested when entering Seychelles because they were carrying drugs into the country,” Mr Afif said per Seychelles News Agency.
“In one case, 62 Nigerians who said they were on holiday used false credit cards and the money was never credited to the accounts of these establishments.”
“These establishments have lost money. These people spent free holidays in the country at the expense of the establishment owners, and there is nothing that can be done for them,” he added.
Mr Afif’s comments came days after controversy broke out on social media after some Nigerians alleged being denied visas for no tenable reasons by Seychelles. Nigeria has faced visa bans from other countries in recent months, including the United Arab Emirates, which added the West African nation to a list of 17 African countries not welcome.
