By Derrick Bangura.
Nigeria’s Federal Government has disowned a trending travel advisory contained in a statement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs letter-headed paper.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was said to have advised all intending Nigerian nationals wishing to travel to Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova to postpone their trip until the month ending May 2022, claiming that their embassies and consulates had stopped issuing visas with immediate effect, according to the alleged fake press release allegedly signed by Esther Sunsuwa.
It was also “essential to abide to the above, is the war alert from the world power to its citizens to evacuate those countries within 48 hours,” according to the disclaimed declaration, which was written on February 18th.
“The fact is owing to the unhealthy war alert that the world powers have issued, which may likely result in an unforeseen war, without more notice,” the Esther Sunsuwa-signed false press release continued.
“Also, Nigerians proceeding/intentionally entering the above-mentioned neighboring nations, between Russia and Ukraine, should avoid such an unacceptably high risk.”
Mrs. Francisca Omayuli, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, stated in a statement on Tuesday that the document with the fake reference number and signature did not come from the ministry.
“The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been attracted to a bogus news release in circulation, dated 18th February 2022, on a putative travel advise,” Omoyuli said in his statement.
“It is important to notice that the document with the fabricated Reference Number and signature did not come from the Ministry.” The Ministry strongly condemns this nefarious behavior and advises the general public to ignore the contents of the phony news release. Furthermore, the paper in circulation does not accurately represent the Ministry’s authorized form.”
She stated that the Ministry’s authorized Press Statements are always released through official media channels and on all social media platforms.