Hotel reservation, and COVID test result..with her phone. I don’t know if she sent it to someone, but when I peeped at her phone, it looked like a WhatsApp message. Then she kept her phone down for about 15 minutes and checked again. Then called another staff.

That person escorted me to get my luggage. I still asked her if there was anything I could do, she said that’s their policy and I cannot enter if I don’t have this letter. So, there I was, in the airport, no internet, no way of reaching the outside world, and no information on

how to solve this problem. I asked if I can use anyones phone to let my people waiting for me know what was happening. They just asked me to follow them. We entered a waiting hall, that was when an officer from the airline appeared and gave me a new boarding pass. I looked at it

and it was an economy class ticket. I told him I traveled business class, so why was I given an economy class ticket. He said I didn’t have a choice in the matter, he told me that my passport will be returned to me when I arrive Lagos, like I was some kind of criminal😳😭.

The plane I came in was about to return, and I was to get on it. But I didn’t want to leave without letting anyone know what happened. So one of the officers agreed to let me use his phone. I called someone in Mozambique to let them know and to let my boss know.

Then they escorted me to the plane. The flight attendant saw me and asked what happened, I told her and when I showed her my new economy class boarding pass, she asked me pick any Business Class seat I like. That was the silver lining in my ordeal. 🥺🥺🥺.

I was so touched by the kindness because she didn’t have to. But she could see my disappointment, sadness, and anger, and probably thought to make it a bit more manageable for me. So, I resolved that whenever I can, I will fly @flyethiopian . 🖤🖤🖤🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

When got back to Addis, I wasn’t allowed to leave the airport cuz they wouldn’t release my passport. Despite the 12hr layover, they made me sleep on a metal chair in the airport over night. Such inhumane treatment for someone who isn’t a fugitive. That was so unnecessary

That was how I retuned after a pointless journey over 3 days. Now, I don’t know if this was personal, or if this is the treatment they give Nigerians or anything like that. I don’t know. But it’s unfair and unwise to have a policy that people find out about AFTER they’ve arrived

or by being lucky enough to know someone who has traveled there before and knows of their policy. This is such a diplomatic failure and a very poor tourism policy. As I type this, I haven’t been able to find a twitter handle for the Mozambican government.

As it stands now, if I wanted to visit #Mozambique again, I have no idea how to proceed or how to get that letter. Imagine the number of people like who they have turned back. Imagine if my life depended on making this trip, or I planned to go somewhere else after #Maputo . Hmmm

Anyway, I wish I could give you information on how to prevent this from happening to you, but I can’t and that’s the most frustrating thing about all of this. All I can say for now is, don’t go to #Mozambique . They are not friendly at all…at least not to people like me.

The worst part is that I don’t know where to file my complaint for this injustice meted on me. What I have now is social media to sound the alarm and to warn others who might want to visit their godforsaken country. #Mozambique