Ethiopia scraps visa on arrival for Nigerians

Ethiopia scraps visa on arrival for Nigerians

Ethiopia is a fellow West African country as Nigeria.

It is the 2nd most populous country in Africa only behind Nigeria.

It appears the battering that Nigerians has continued to face on the international front is showing no sign of abating anytime soon. In fact, if anything, it is getting worse. It is a known fact that Nigerians suffers untoward harassment and shame at the immigration units of most international airports. That in itself is a testimony of how the country is viewed beyond its borders.

Ethiopia Bans Visa on Arrival For Nigerians

The Ethiopian government has scrapped visas-on-arrival for Nigerians with immediate effect.

In a statement on Tuesday, the government said travellers would need to obtain their visas at its embassy in Abuja before embarking on any trip to the country.

The development comes barely two weeks after Ethiopian Airlines emerged as the core investor in Nigeria Air — the country’s national carrier — with 49 percent shareholding.

“Please, be informed that effective immediately, no more visas on arrival for Nigerian citizens,” the email reads in part.

The embassy did not say what prompted the decision to cancel visa-on-arrival for the Nigerians.

Recall that Ethiopia has been in the list of the 65 countries that allows visa on arrival for Nigererians.

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Exceptions to the Ban on Visa on Arrival

The statement, however states that the new policy did not affect passengers transiting overnight in Addis Ababa.

“Passengers having a layover in Addis to travel the next morning to Zanzibar, Seychelles, Lusaka, Lilongwe, Harare, Cape Town, etc., are not affected by the ban. And they do not need a transit visa for their trips,” it added.

Ethiopia also mandated Nigerians entering its country and 42 other African countries to produce their yellow fever vaccination cards at any of its borders.

The countries include Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritania and Niger.

Others are Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, South Sudan, Uganda, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

Speaking on the development, Senait Ataklet, Ethiopian Airlines’ traffic and sales manager, said the Ethiopian government did not ban Nigerians from entering but only introduced an online visa application.

Ataklet said with the new policy, Nigerians will now be required to fill a visa-on-arrival requisition form prior to departure.

“The information I have it’s not a ban on arrival visa, but you know just like a Nigerian requesting, they need an online form to be filled out prior to departure for an on-arrival visa. Even though it’s on arrival visa, you need to fill an online form,” Ataklet told TheCable.

“So, it’s not banned. Before anybody can just go without applying, but when Ethiopians come to Nigeria, they need to fill out the online form on arrival. That’s the agreement, basically, that’s what they telling me now. They (Nigerians) need to fill a form an online visa-on-arrival requisition form.”