{"id":120944,"date":"2025-07-24T13:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=120944"},"modified":"2025-07-24T13:00:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T12:00:19","slug":"senator-natasha-temporarily-detained-at-abuja-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/senator-natasha-temporarily-detained-at-abuja-airport\/","title":{"rendered":"Senator Natasha Temporarily Detained at Abuja Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>By Oscar Okhifo<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Embattled Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, was briefly detained by immigration officers on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while attempting to board a flight to the United Kingdom.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The senator, who was travelling with her husband to attend her stepson\u2019s graduation, was reportedly flagged by immigration officials who claimed her name appeared on a travel watch list.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Sources close to the lawmaker said the officials informed her that she was considered a flight risk. However, there was no court order restricting her movement, and her legal representatives insisted she had never defaulted on any court appearance.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThis is clearly political harassment,\u201d a member of her legal team who asked not to be named said. \u201cThere is no legal basis for detaining her. She has complied fully with all court processes and has never missed a sitting.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The situation led to a\u00a0 standoff that lasted nearly an hour before she was eventually cleared following several calls to unamed top government officials.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Her passport was eventually stamped, and she was allowed to board her British Airways flight to the UK.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>This incident comes amid escalating tensions between the\u00a0 Senator\u00a0 and the Senate leadership.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>You&#8217;d recall that in\u00a0 March 2025, she was controversially suspended from the Senate following her protest during plenary and her allegation of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, an allegation Akpabio has strongly denied.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>On July 4, a Federal High Court urged the Senate to consider her recall from suspension, describing it as\u00a0 &#8220;excessive&#8221; even as the Parliament has the right to discipline it&#8217;s deviant members.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0Despite the court ruling, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was prevented from accessing the National Assembly complex on July 22. Security operatives barred her and her entourage. She had\u00a0 come to\u00a0 resume her legislative duties.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The latest development has drawn criticism from civil society groups and legal experts, who described the move as a violation of her rights and a threat to democratic institutions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Efforts to obtain comments from the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Senate\u2019s spokesperson were unsuccessful as of press time.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oscar Okhifo Embattled Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, was briefly detained by immigration officers on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while attempting to&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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