It said the cleric met all the requirements that ensured the granting of visa to him.
Philips, who lives in Qatar, had been issued a Nigerian Visa to visit and preach in the country. The cleric had already been banned from countries like Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America, Kenya, among others. Reports had it that the cleric celebrated his visa issuance with his followers on his Facebook on Sunday morning, saying, "Al hamdu lillaah.
I just got a visa for Nigeria and will be going there in a few days, in shaa allaah.
So, I hope to see all my Nigerian brothers and sisters. Baarakallaahu feekum." Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, noted that every country has its own requirement for the granting of visa and in Nigeria's situation, especially against "the backdrop of our security challenges, we also have our requirement for granting of visas.
"We have our own blacklist of people that because of our security situation should not be allowed into country. "And if this preacher that you talked about for instance did not fall within the list of people blacklisted for their activities that are inimical to internal security. If he is preaching and the content of what he has submitted for the granting of visa that will not undermine the security of the country, then certainly we will grant him the visa. That is the purpose we have achieved here," Moro said.
He further said it was double standards, as "when the Nigerian government signed the anti-law and the west was complaining, we stated that the Nigerian nation is a sovereign country that should be allowed to determine its destiny and practices."
He added that Nigeria will therefore not use "the refusal of visa by Germany and UK as a basis for refusing anybody visa here. "I can assure you that the Nigerian security personnel are equal to the task of detecting whose activities that are inimical to the situation of this country."Any moment that his preaching and activities are seen to be inimical to the security of this country I can assure you that we are up to the task of repainting, him as soon as possible. "And his specific activities in this country guides the request that he has made, which has also guided the action of the Nigerian Immigration Service in granting him the visa."
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