A man whose wife was seen in a viral video tearing what appeared to be his international passport at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos has come forward to clarify that the entire incident was a staged skit, not a real event.
The video, which sparked widespread outrage and concern on social media, has since been debunked by the man himself in a new video shared on the family’s Instagram page.
In the follow-up video, the man, seen with his children, appealed to Nigerians to forgive him and his wife for the confusion and assured the public that no laws were broken during the making of the skit.
He emphasised that what was destroyed in the video was not his actual passport and that the entire scenario was a dramatization of someone else’s story, intended to be shared with a wider audience.
“What my wife tore is not a passport; she never tore my passport. We are doing a skit, this is somebody’s story of what happened that we are passing to the world. But I didn’t even know it would go viral,” the man explained.
“Please, I’m begging everybody, this is not a passport. My passport is intact. Nobody should drag this thing to the mud. We are sorry, we cannot defile the law of Nigeria; we are full bona fide Nigerians. We cannot go against the law by destroying the passport of Nigeria—it is not possible.”
The original video, which circulated widely on social media, showed the man’s wife destroying what was believed to be his Nigerian passport upon their arrival in Nigeria. Her actions were met with shock and criticism, with many questioning the legality and implications of such an act.
The woman, in an earlier interview, claimed she tore the passport because her husband had caused her immense pain in their marriage. She even stated that she had planned to destroy the document while they were still in Europe but decided against it to avoid further stress for her husband.
Following the video’s release, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) quickly responded by announcing a formal investigation into the matter. The Service’s Public Relations Officer, DCI Kenneth Udo, confirmed that the individuals involved had been identified and invited for questioning.
He also stated that if the allegations were proven true, the woman’s actions could constitute a violation of Section 10(b) of the Immigration Act 2015 (as amended), which outlines the penalties for such offenses under Section 10(h) of the same Act.
“The Nigeria Immigration Service remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the provisions of the Immigration Act in the interest of national security and to preserving the dignity and integrity of the nation’s legal instruments,” Udo said in a statement, underscoring the seriousness with which the Service viewed the incident.
However, in light of the man’s latest video, it appears that the controversy may have been much ado about nothing. The man expressed his regret that the skit had been taken out of context and blown out of proportion, and he urged the public to understand that no real harm had been done. He also mentioned that the NIS had seen his passport, further confirming that it was not damaged in any way.