Six British Media Crew Repatriated From Nigeria Over Visa Irregularities, Air Peace Faces Penalty

In a dramatic turn of events at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport [MMIA]in Lagos yesterday, 3rd of May 2025, six British nationals who were part of an eight-member documentary film crew traveling across Africa were denied entry into Nigeria and were subsequently repatriated to the United Kingdom late last night.

The group, which had arrived from Sierra Leone aboard Air Peace at approximately 7:16 a.m., was turned back due to what the Nigeria Immigration Service [NIS] described as “improper, irregular and unexplainable documentation issues.”

According to the NIS at MMIA, the affected individuals did not possess the necessary documentation required to procure visas on arrival, a process recently tightened under Nigeria’s revised immigration protocols. The entire crew included six Britons, one Sierra Leonean, and one Nigerian. Only the Sierra Leonean and Nigerian members were permitted entry, while the British nationals were held at the airport for nearly 15 hours before being flown back to the United Kingdom.

Sources within the immigration command revealed that the NIS made extensive efforts to clarify the situation with higher authorities, including escalating the issue to aides of the Minister of Interior. Despite these efforts, the new immigration system could not accommodate their entry due to noncompliance with updated visa-on-arrival requirements.

In exclusive conversations with African Travel Times, both the Public Relations Officer of the NIS and the Press Secretary to the Minister of Interior confirmed that they were aware of the incident. They reiterated that the current system, recently overhauled to improve transparency and control, could not be circumvented even under intense diplomatic or operational pressure.

The documentary’s Nigerian fixer and local producer, who previously worked as a freelance staff member for African Travel Times, explained that he had hired an agency to process the visas for the British crew, a service the same company had successfully rendered in the past.

According to him, the agent claimed the visa approval process was completed, but they encountered technical issues downloading the necessary documents. As a result, the crew boarded their flight from Sierra Leone with only a paper that purportedly confirmed their visa fee payments, but not approval, expecting to finalise the process on arrival in Nigeria.

This assumption proved costly. One senior immigration official at MMIA questioned how the crew was allowed to board the flight without valid documents, hinting at potential lapses in pre-departure verification by Air Peace.

The Nigerian authorities had initially assured African Travel Times that the matter would be resolved between Lagos and Abuja, and that the visa-on-arrival approvals had finally come through. However, in line with the updated immigration rules, the travellers were still required to exit the country and re-enter with proper documentation, a protocol that could not be waived.

Faced with a logistical deadlock, the six British nationals of two women and four men were eventually repatriated directly to the UK instead of returning to Sierra Leone. This resolution came after what witnesses described as a harrowing day-long wait filled with confusion and disappointment at the airport.

In a further development, African Travel Times has learned from immigration sources that Air Peace may face financial sanctions for their role in the incident. The airline could be fined $2,000 per repatriated individual, totalling $12,000 for transporting passengers without valid travel documents.

This incident underscores the importance of compliance with Nigeria’s evolving visa protocols and highlights potential lapses in coordination between travel agents, airlines, and border control systems.

By Our Correspondent