SAUDI Arabian authorities have arrested Nigerian a former Nigerian legislator Senator Hassan Barata for impersonation after he was found travelling with a diplomatic passport and claiming to be a government official.
Senator Barafa, former chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, represented the Adamawa South Senatorial District between 2011 and 2015 as a People's Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker. However, it appears that he is yet to return his diplomatic passport since leaving office and has subsequently been arrested and detained by the Saudi authorities.
Thought to be in Saudi Arabia to observe the hajj pilgrimage, Senator Barata claimed to be an employee of the Nigerian embassy there after being arrested. Senator Barata is one of those former officials the federal government has directed to return their diplomatic passports to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) as being out of office they are no longer entitled to carry them.
Earlier this week, the NIS communicated the revocation of official and diplomatic passports of certain persons to the international community through their embassies in Nigeria. It could be that the Saudi authorities were thus informed that Senator Barata was travelling with a diplomatic document, which then led to him being questioned.
Last February, Senator Barata defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) but returned to the PDP after losing his bid to win the APC governorship ticket. He remains a PDP member and is subsequently in opposition following the APC's victory in March's general elections.
- See more at: http://www.nigerianwatch.com/news/7761-former-senator-arrested-in-saudi-arabia-for-impersonation-and-use-of-diplomatic-passport#sthash.yT8Gr894.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment