The United Arab Emirates Embassy in Nigeria has denied suspending or stopping the issuance of three months visa to Nigerians travelling to the country as a result of a robbery allegedly involving five Nigerians in Dubai.
The embassy in its Twitter handle @UAEEmbassyNGR said: “In the light of the press report published this morning (Thursday 4/4/2019) alleging that the United Arab Emirates has suspended issuing tourist Visa to Nigerian nationals, the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Abuja would like to announce these news are inaccurate and stresses the importance of sourcing news from its official channel”.
Meanwhile, the mission told News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Friday that “there were no changes in the visa policy at all”.
In a statement, the embassy said: “In light of the press reports published this morning, and alleging that the United Arab Emirates has suspended issuing tourist visas to Nigerian nationals, the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Abuja would like to announce these news are inaccurate, and stresses the importance of getting the news from its official channels. ‘’
Five Nigerians allegedly broke into a Bureau De Change in Sharjah Area of Dubai and robbed it.
Shortly after the incident, a travel and tours agent, Africholidays, issued a statement online that Nigerian passport holders were no longer entitled to three months visa in UAE.
Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs, has described the action as disgraceful.
Many Nigerians visit UAE, especially Dubai, on business trips.