REVEALED: Why Trump punishes Nigeria with visa restrictions

Nigeria’s refusal to accept asylum seekers from the United States is partly responsible for the recent visa restrictions imposed on the country by President Donald Trump, according to TheCable.

It is understands that the talks are part of broader demands from the Trump administration, which are currently being negotiated.

Diplomatic sources told TheCable that the US president has been putting pressure on many countries to serve as temporary homes for asylum seekers until their cases are treated, and this usually takes up to seven years.

While some countries have agreed, Nigeria has refused to be part of the arrangement.

Trump typically raises the bar in negotiations by slamming very high penalties on the other party until he gets the better part of the bargain.

He has been applying this strategy in his tariff war with a number of countries.

VISA RELATIONS BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES

The US embassy had announced on Tuesday a reduction in the validity period and entry allowance for “most” non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to Nigerians, effectively limiting the legality of their stay in the US to three months with a single entry.

An alleged imbalance in visa reciprocity from Nigeria was cited on social media as reason for the hard-hitting penalty, although the exact details were not made public by the US.

The announcement came as a shock to Nigerians and there were claims — now confirmed to be false — that Nigeria caused the policy change by stopping to issue five-year visas to American citizens.

A physical embassy-issued Nigerian visa for US citizens still has a validity that ranges from three months to five years, with either single or multiple entry — depending on the visa category.

Nigeria introduced its e-visa on March 1, aiming to make the process more accessible by eliminating the need for embassy visits and the highly poorly managed visa on arrival.

The e-visa is valid for 90 days from the date of issuance and allows single entry into Nigeria with a maximum stay of 30 days.

The changes were not limited to US citizens as they affected ALL non-ECOWAS nationals requiring visas to enter Nigeria.

However, the US does not offer such a visa category to Nigerians despite the reciprocity agreement.

Diplomatic sources told TheCable that the bone of contention is beyond the non-existent gaps in visa reciprocity.

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FAILED DEAL TO SEND ASYLUM SEEKERS

Since taking office in January, Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders aimed at deporting millions of “illegal immigrants” — many of whom are asylum seekers — back to their countries of origin.

The US also pressured third countries to accept deported individuals who were not their nationals, a move widely condemned by human rights groups.

Some of the considered Central American countries were El Salvador and Panama, while in Africa, Libya, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Djibouti were identified as preferred destinations.

A few of these countries have already received some deportees.

On June 9, the US supreme court cleared the way for migrants to be deported to third countries — even to those facing conflict — instead of returning them to their home nations.

TheCable learnt that the US also approached Nigeria to receive the deported asylum seekers.

While the specifics of the arrangement were not disclosed, diplomatic sources confirmed that discussions took place but were unsuccessful owing to Nigeria’s unwillingness to accept non-citizens, many of whom had a number of years left to finalise their asylum applications.

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A large number of the deportees are also believed to be convicted prisoners.

The proposed arrangement closely mirrors the controversial asylum deal between the United Kingdom and Rwanda, which faced legal and political setbacks and remained largely unimplemented.

Under the scheme, the Home Office agreed to pay money to support economic growth in Rwanda and provide extra payments to cover the cost of processing and relocating migrants there.

The UK government has already paid £220 million to Rwanda under the arrangement.
But shortly after assuming office, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the plan had been “dead and buried”.

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