Lagos, July 16, 2023 – Seychelles has announced tougher border controls that will see tourists with Nigerian passports go through increased screening before they are granted entry.
This development is coming after reports of drug trafficking and fraudulent activities by some Nigerian passport holders.
Ahmed Afif, Seychelles Vice President, told reporters on Thursday that Nigerians with diplomatic passports and active work or residency licences issued by the island nation will be permitted entry.
“For the others, the government will keep its eyes open and Seychelles Electronic Border System, (SEBS), will analyse much more to find out what reasons they are coming example someone who is coming for a holiday for only one day.
“We have to ask questions because it is strange and we have seen that happening,” Afif said.
He said that there were many instances where many Nigerians said they were coming for holidays but only for one or two days.
“When we checked the payments made for them to come to Seychelles, it is from only one source. This is for different people coming on different days which shows an organised syndicate.”
Afif said that in recent months, particularly, the administration has seen “a tendency that we have deemed as dangerous for our border control and economy, due to criminal activities happening in the country.”
The Vice President said: “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.
“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.
“There are other online scams originating from Nigeria. We have seen that these people are also coming to Seychelles and doing those scams.
“We do not have a problem with Nigeria or its people though we do not tolerate such criminal activities in our country.” (GBN)
