By John Ikani
Ethiopia has stopped issuing visa-on-arrival for Nigerian citizens.
In a circular seen by Heritage Times HT titled: ‘No More Visa on Arrival for Nigerian Citizens’, the airline stated that Nigerians must obtain visas from the Ethiopian Embassy in Abuja before embarking on trips to the East African country.
It however noted that “Passengers transiting overnight in Addis Ababa are not affected by the ban. E.g. Passengers having layover in Addis to travel the next morning to Zanzibar, Seychelles, Lusaka, Lilongwe, Harare, Cape Town etc are not affected by the ban and do not need transit visa for their trips.”
Ethiopia has also made it compulsory for Nigerians going into its country to produce their yellow fever vaccination cards at any of its borders.
The new policies come barely two weeks after the country’s flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines acquired 49 percent majority stake on the Nigeria Air project.
The Ethiopia government move has questioned the actual undertones of the partnership as well as Nigeria’s rule of reciprocity with regards both country’s Bilateral Air Services Agreement( BASA) as no reason has been given for the new measures.
It is worthwhile to note that the same policies were announced for for 42 other countries, many of which are African and South American countries.
