THE man whose wife tore his international passport at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos has claimed that the incident was merely a ‘skit’ gone awry.
Recall that the couple with three children after arriving in Nigeria, were involved in a dramatic incident upon arriving in Nigeria.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), the wife, Favour Igiebor, was seen tearing her husband’s passport and dumping the shreds on the ground before airport staff and fellow passengers.
The incident, which was captured on video, went viral on Saturday, August 10, shortly after the couple arrived in the country.
In the footage, Igiebor was shown shouting at her husband and tearing his passport in a fit of rage.
The commotion at the airport led to widespread reactions from Nigerians on social media, with many expressing their views on the unusual situation.
Consequently, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Sunday, August 11, announced that it had launched an investigation into the incident.
The NIS stated that tampering with official documents, particularly international passports, was an offence under Nigerian law and could be a violation of Section 10(b) of the Immigration Act 2015 (as amended), which prohibits the willful destruction of Nigerian travel documents.
However, the husband has since insisted that the entire event was a staged performance meant as a social media skit.
In a video sighted by The ICIR, via the family channel Jejoja FamilyTV, the man appealed to the NIS and requested forgiveness, explaining that the incident was intended for entertainment purposes and not meant to cause any real disruption
“I am here with my kids to send a message of appeal to the public and the whole world. What my wife tore is (sic) not a passport. She never tore my passport. My passport is intact. It’s a skit of somebody’s story.
“We didn’t know it would turn out this way. I’m begging everybody to forgive us. The immigration has seen my passport,” he said in the video.
However, this was contrary to the response by the wife, Igiebor, in a video circulating on Monday, a few hours after the NIS announced its investigation into the incident.
The ICIR reported that, following the outrage surrounding her actions as shown in a video by @JejojaFamily TV, Igiebor defended herself, citing long-standing marital issues and claiming she acted out of frustration upon returning to Nigeria.
She said she had wanted to tear the passport when they were in Europe but she didn’t want to stress her husband.
Her words: “These issues have been going on for a very long time. I was just dancing to the tune till I arrived (in) my motherland Nigeria which just happened and I did what I did.”
She expressed frustration over social media criticisms that trailed her action and urged the public to consider the underlying reasons behind her action.
She claimed that her husband had been controlling her social media and other aspects of her life, which contributed to her frustration.
She further challenged those calling for her arrest, demanding to know what offence she committed.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M