A former Chairman, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Senator Hassan Barata has been detained in Saudi Arabia for being in possession of revoked diplomatic passport and refusing to leave after his time elapsed.
Also, during questioning Barata, who was carrying an official passport already revoked by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), had claimed to be an employee of the Nigerian Embassy – a claim that was found to be untrue.
It will be recalled that the NIS had earlier in the week communicated the revocation of official and diplomatic passports of certain persons to the international community through their embassies in Nigeria.
The Federal Government has however said it is waiting for a full report on the circumstances that led to the detention of Senator Barata, in Saudi Arabia.
The spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmedu Ogbole-Ode, said that the government had yet to be briefed by the Nigerian embassy on the arrest and detention of the former governorship aspirant in Adamawa State.
“We are waiting for a full report on the incident from Saudi Arabia; it’s when we get the report that we can decide the next step to take. I have made attempts to reach the embassy there, but the telephone network was bad and I couldn’t reach them,” he said.
The Nigeria Immigration Service also said it had yet to get a report on the incident too.
When asked if the service would sanction Barata for using an official passport against the rules, the NIS Public Relations Officer, Ekpedeme King, explained that the service would need to get a full report before he could comment on what would be done to the former senator.
“I can’t speak on the matter until we get a full report of the incident, that is the time we can comment on the development,” he said.
Barata represented Adamawa South in the sixth Senate, having been elected in 2011 on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) last February but returned to the PDP after losing his bid to pick the governorship ticket.
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