Nigerian married women would no longer be required to provide a letter of approval from their husbands to obtain a visa clearance certificate.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), made a u-turn on Thursday, from its initial rule making such clearance compulsory.
Prompt News reports that the unpopular rule has been greeted with outrage on social media after the anti-narcotics agency initially mandated married women to submit a “letter of approval to travel from their husband, attached with his passport photograph” to obtain the certificate.
The NDLEA’s visa clearance certified individuals with no drug-related convictions in Nigeria — a requirement by some countries.
But, in a dramatic u-turn, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said the requirement has been removed.
“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 inclusion of that item abinitio arose following some ugly developments in some source countries.
“Members of the public are assured that the item has been deleted from the list of requirements in the ongoing review exercise, which will be made public in the coming days,” the statement reads.
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