On August 10, a woman, now identified as Favor Igiebor, was captured on video tearing her husband’s Nigerian passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
The video, which has gone viral, has raised questions regarding the legal implications of desecrating the Nigerian passport and the consequences of such an act.
Who Are The Igiebor Family?
Research by Neusroom shows that the couple, based in Italy, are content creators who run social media pages where they share content about their family activities and affairs. …CONTINUE READING
Various videos examined on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok show that the couple’s content garners a few likes and comments. The last video, posted a day before the MMIA incident, shows Mr. Igiebor ‘gifting’ his wife an iPhone 12 Pro Max. As of August 13 (4:43 am), that video on Facebook had 68 comments and 64 likes.
However, their pages, particularly on Facebook, have witnessed increased attention since the passport desecration incident, sparking speculation that it was a skit aimed at pulling a publicity stunt.
Was This A Skit?
The couple has not yet publicly declared whether the incident over the weekend was a skit. However, they have been involved in producing content that appears to promote their social media pages.
In a video posted on the family’s skit page on Facebook, Mrs. Igiebor explains why she tore her husband’s passport.
Mrs. Igiebor, who has been involved in almost all the ‘happy couple’ videos posted on their pages, alleged that she has been facing challenges in her marriage of nearly eight years.
She said, “You have to ask what happened. Don’t just look at the action alone. I am not a mad woman who would just come and act like that. I have my reasons; I have gone through many things. Don’t make comments without knowing what happened. I have gone through a lot of family issues here and there. I cannot be suffering.”
Although she failed to reveal the challenges she’s facing in her marriage, Mr. Igiebor, in a video posted on the same page, also failed to reveal what the issues are, instead asking viewers to watch the full video of the incident, which was not part of the first viral clip.
“Go and watch the video; I have the full clip. You’ll see something. She did not know that I gave somebody my phone,” Mr. Igiebor said in the video, which has garnered more than 900 comments on Facebook.
The last video posted on their Facebook page, supposedly showing a family reconciliation with Mr. Igiebor’s mother, was captioned, “Just imagine what my wife did to my mother,” and shows a heated outburst between Mrs. Igiebor and her mother-in-law.
Was a Nigerian Passport Actually Torn?
The Nigerian Immigration Service, in a statement on August 11, said it has launched a formal investigation into the trending passport desecration video.
However, several comments on the couple’s new videos suggest that Nigerians are beginning to speculate that it was an expired Nigerian passport that was torn.
“I believe that passport is an old passport they have renewed. These are just content. Content is the new oil. They are mining,”
Another social media user commented on the video with the mother-in-law.
“What a shame. So, it’s all content. No way she possibly tore an expired passport. Very boring movie.”
What Are the Legal Implications of Tearing a Nigerian Passport?
Although the Nigeria Immigration Service has yet to disclose the outcome of their investigation, the deliberate destruction of a passport is an offense punishable by fines, imprisonment, or both.
According to Section 10 (b) of the Nigeria Immigration Act of 2015, and the corresponding Section 10 (h) outlining penalties, any person who unlawfully alters, tampers with, or mutilates any passport or any pages thereof, commits an offense and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 10 years, a fine of N2 million, or both.
An Immigration Officer, who requested anonymity due to the ongoing investigation, told Neusroom that even if the passport was expired, there could still be consequences.
“The Nigerian passport is not just a piece of paper,” the officer said, explaining that an expired passport can contain valuable information.
“It’s possible that there is a valid visa in the old one which the person still needs. In that case, they carry both booklets: the expired one containing the visa and the renewed passport booklet,” the officer said.
