Nigerians may be denied visas to the United Kingdom after 2023 General Elections.
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, on Tuesday, May 18, revealed that Nigerians who would participate in rigging 2023 elections , will be denied visa by the Uk government.
Laing made this revelation to VANGUARD, in Port-Harcourt during her maiden visit to Rivers State.
The High Commissioner regretted that Nigeria is facing series of security challenges and yet, do not have a large security force.
She added that the government needs to build the trust of citizens to turn things around for good.
Laing said;
“I do have some sympathy for Nigeria because if we as UK have one of these problems your country is having today, we will be struggling. Here, you deal with everything, from insurgency to kidnapping, to piracy off the Gulf of Guinea and you don’t have such a large army and police force for a country of this size.
“The only way you turn this thing around is that government has to build the trust of its people, to have the people working with the government to deal with criminality. That’s how successful anti-criminal operations work.
“People willingly report those committing crime, working with police to identify criminals, same with the military on the insurgency situation.
It’s only when the community is on the side of the police and security services that they can turn around the situation.”
Also reacting to the coming 2023 general elections, she said;
“2023 is not alright. What happens in the elections is very crucial, not just for Nigeria, but Africa to the world. You (Nigeria) are a large democracy.
“It doesn’t have to be a perfect election. There would be problems, but we want it to be better than the last one. We want it to be secure, peaceful, the process should be run well, and you need to get people to register.”
On her choice of candidates, she said;
“My ideal candidates would be two younger presidential candidates, both with female vice presidential candidates,”
To Wike and Amaechi on the next Rivers State governorship election, she said:
“It is essential that there’s a peaceful election in Rivers State. It’s going to be a crucial part of his (Wike) legacy, how the election goes in this state. We’ve been saying the same thing to Amaechi.
“Another thing we will be doing is to remind people that if people do incite violence or act violently, we will be prepared to deny them visas to the UK. We will make that statement clear and say it over again” Laing warned.
