Seychelles cracks down on Nigerian travelers with tighter border controls

<span>Seychelles cracks down on Nigerian travelers with tighter border controls</span>, <p>Seychelles has announced tighter border restrictions, necessitating more thorough screening before allowing admission to travelers holding Nigerian passports.</p>, <p>During a news conference, Ahmed Afif, the vice president of Seychelles, said that Nigerians with diplomatic passports and those with legitimate work or residency permits granted by Seychelles will be permitted admission.</p>, <p>“When we checked the payments made for them to come to Seychelles, it is from only one source. This is for different people coming on different days which shows an organized syndicate. In recent months, particularly, the administration has seen “a tendency that we have deemed as dangerous for our border control and economy, due to criminal activities happening in the country.” The vice president said.</p>, <p>“We have seen a clear link between this with certain people from Nigeria. In the past two weeks, for example, 13 people coming from Nigeria have been arrested when entering Seychelles because they were carrying drugs into the country,” he added.</p>, <p>However, it is believed that the Seychelles government would be watchful of other Nigerian passport holders, nevertheless. Particularly for individuals who claim to be vacationing for only one day, the Seychelles Electronic Border System (SEBS) will carry out a more complete study to identify the reason for their presence. Given that there have been occasions in which Nigerians have claimed to be on vacation, such cases are seen as suspicious.</p>, <p>“For the others, the government will keep its eyes open and SEBS (Seychelles Electronic Border System) will analyze much more to find out what reasons they are coming,” he was quoted as saying. “For example, someone who is coming for a holiday for only one day. We have to ask questions because it is strange and we have seen that happening.”</p>, <p>The vice president also recounted a case in which 62 Nigerians seemed to be on vacation