The diplomatic relations between nigeria and Saudi Arabia are under scrutiny after 177 Nigerians had their visas revoked and were deported from the country.
According to Nigeria's foreign ministry, only 87 of the 264 Nigerian nationals who arrived in Jeddah on an Air Peace flight on Monday were allowed to enter. Everyone else had their visas revoked and was deported.
According to local media accounts, some passengers were pilgrims hoping to undertake the lesser Hajj (the Umrah) in Mecca, the Islamic holy city.
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It is not immediately obvious what kind of visas the deported Nigerians had. However, Air Peace, the Nigerian carrier that carried the Nigerians into Jeddah, stated that it was "shocked" that Saudi Arabia canceled the visas of its passengers upon arrival because it "strictly followed the profiling procedures stipulated by Saudi Arabian authorities."
"The visas of all the passengers on the said flight to Jeddah... were checked and verified through the requisite procedures and were vetted to be valid before departure," the airline said in a statement on Wednesday. It added, "No notice of cancellation or denial from the Saudi authorities was received against any of these passengers despite the live transmission of their details."
According to commentators, the event was embarrassing for Nigeria because its president was still in the nation following the Saudi-Africa Summit last Friday.
According to the president, he traveled to Guinea Bissau on Thursday morning for Independence Day celebrations.
Reno Omokiri, a former presidential assistant in Nigeria, called Saudi Arabia's actions "embarrassing" and a blot on bilateral relations between the two countries.
