Air Peace chairman finally addresses Nigerians’ visa ordeal in Saudi Arabia

The chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyeama, has finally reacted to the ordeal of scores of Nigerians who were deported from Saudi Arabia at the point of entry on Sunday.

In an interview on Channels Television's 'Politics Today', Mr Onyeama revealed that Air Peace did not breach any rule of engagement in flying the passengers to Middle-Eastern country.

According to him, the airline got “approval and clearance of every procedure required of it before taking off from Nigeria.”

Recall that news circulated that the Saudi Arabian authorities cancelled the visa of more than 170 passengers who arrived in Jeddah from Nigeria on Air Peace.

According to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Nigeria, the travellers that were deported did not meet the entry conditions and requirements of its country because a lot of them gave incorrect information to obtain visas they were not qualified for. The embassy added that they only got to know that the passengers submitted incorrect information after they had arrived in Jeddah.

Mr Onyeama however emphasized that Air Peace confirmed that all passengers’ visas were valid before they left Nigeria.

“The visas were valid as of the time the airline was taking off,” Mr Onyeama said.

Mr Onyeama added that there are more issues that he would not want to discuss in the media because an investigation is ongoing.

He stated: “The Nigerian government said it’s carrying out an investigation. So let’s allow the investigation to take place.

“I don’t want to dwell on this. I want decorum and good diplomacy to prevail in this whole thing. I want justice and fairness, that’s all.

“It's unusual because we followed every protocol. We are not in the business of issuing visas as an airline. Ours is to verify visas got clearance through the Advanced Passengers Information System (APIS) and we have done all that.

“But I also want to say something here, countries reserve the right to allow or deny anyone entry into its territory even after giving a visa.

“In this case, the Saudi Arabian embassy is not denying that the passengers had visas as of the time of leaving Nigeria. However, they are saying that they discovered that the passengers gave incorrect information in obtaining the visas.

“By this information, the embassy is inadvertently exonerating Air Peace.”

BEB