Cape Verde Frees 6 Nigerian Tourists After Unlawful Detention

Cape Verde Frees 6 Nigerian Tourists After Unlawful Detention

Six Nigerian tourists detained by immigration officers in Cape Verde have finally been released after days of diplomatic pressure and public outrage. They are now safe and under the care of the Nigerian Embassy in Senegal.

The news of their release came through a post on Wednesday by X user @tobiojenike, who had earlier raised the alarm about their detention.

“Final update: They are free! They’ve passed through the Dakar border and are now in the care of the Nigerian embassy in Senegal,” the post read.

The group — David James Udoh, Lily Dada, Oghenero Adaware, Sherifat Abimbola Ogundairo, Jesutomi Aina, and a representative of the travel agency Ìrìn Travels — had travelled from Senegal to Cape Verde for a vacation. What should have been a peaceful getaway quickly turned into a nightmare when immigration officials in Cape Verde pulled them aside at the airport.

The Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) confirmed that the group was accused of not having “sufficient funds” for their trip. Officials then confiscated their phones and held them in an immigration deportation camp inside the airport.

Let’s be blunt: these were tourists, not criminals.

The Nigerian government, through NiDCOM, got involved after @tobiojenike’s post went viral. The commission escalated the matter immediately. In a statement, NiDCOM said:

“The attention of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission has been drawn to a case involving six Nigerian tourists who travelled from Senegal to Cape Verde Island on vacation. Upon arrival, they were pulled out of the queue, accused of not having enough funds, and had their phones confiscated. They were subsequently detained at an immigration deportation camp at the airport.”

That’s not just unfair—it’s humiliating.

The group’s distress became more serious when it was discovered that one of them was battling a medical condition. Reports from inside the deportation centre said the person lacked access to needed medication.

NiDCOM demanded that the tourists be treated “with respect and dignity” and urged Cape Verdean authorities to “put them on the next immediate return flight to Dakar for onward connection back to Nigeria.”

This was a case of poor diplomatic hospitality, plain and simple. The tourists, all between the ages of 25 and 31, did not deserve this ordeal. These were young Nigerians simply trying to explore West Africa through a reputable travel agency. No red flags. No illegal behavior. Just six innocent people locked away without just cause.

The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stepped in through its Consular and Migration Directorate, taking up the matter with the Cape Verdean government.

And finally, reason prevailed.

Now back in Dakar, Senegal, the released tourists are receiving assistance from Nigeria’s diplomatic officials.

This incident raises bigger questions. Is Cape Verde systematically profiling West African tourists? Are Nigerians being unfairly treated when visiting certain countries? These are questions that deserve answers—not diplomatic silence.

No tourist from any country deserves to be stripped of their phones, locked up, and accused without clear evidence. What happened in Cape Verde isn’t just a one-off incident—it’s a symptom of something deeper.

But for now, the good news is simple: they’re free.