- The NDLEA assured the public that the rule has now been deleted from the list of requirements in the ongoing review.
- The revised visa clearance procedure is expected to be made public in the coming days.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced that married women are no longer required to submit a letter from their husbands for visa clearance.
The visa clearance certificate issued by the NDLEA serves as proof that an individual has no drug-related offenses in Nigeria, as mandated by certain nations.
In the past, the NDLEA required married women to provide a “letter of approval to travel from their husband, attached with his passport photograph” for the certificate.
However, this stipulation was not imposed on men seeking the same clearance.
The policy faced criticism recently after an X user condemned the requirement in a viral post, highlighting its discriminatory nature.
“NDLEA’s visa clearance requires that a married woman should bring a letter of approval to travel from her husband along with his passport photograph,” the user wrote.
“There is no such rule for men. This is such disgusting government-sponsored misogyny. Are married women children?”
The post rapidly gained attention, inciting outrage on various social media platforms, with numerous voices deeming the policy unfair and obsolete.
In reaction, the NDLEA released a statement to clarify that the mentioned requirement has been eliminated as part of a comprehensive evaluation of its visa clearance policies.
“The entire procedure for visa clearance issued by the NDLEA as required by some countries is currently undergoing review, and the requirement for a married woman to present a letter of approval from her husband to travel is one of the items that the agency has since jettisoned as a non-mandatory item on the list,” the statement said.
The agency elaborated that the rule had been established due to “some ugly developments in some source countries.”
The NDLEA reassured the public that this requirement has been removed from the checklist during the current review process.
The updated visa clearance guidelines are anticipated to be announced shortly.
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