Mr Obed Monago, a former Chair of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Americas (NIDOA), has decried the poor treatment meted out to Nigerians seeking the visas of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Monago made this known on Saturday in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) against the backdrop of the recent visa ban placed on Nigerians by the UAE government.

He, however, expressed the hope that the ban would soon be lifted in considering the good relations existing between Nigeria and the UAE.

Monago said: “It is definitely appalling that the citizens of the giant of Africa are treated and toyed with in this manner and the blame goes to successive Nigerian governments.

“Also Nigerians in the UAE, who have refused or did not realise that UAE is a sovereign country with its own rules and regulations, should also be blamed.

“I find troubling the nullification of visa applications and the keeping of the visa fees by the UAE government. The UAE should fully refund the application fees.

“If they refund the fees that would show that the actions they are taking are in good faith and if they hold on to the fees, it would amount to extortion,“ he said.

The UAE immigration authorities recently announced visa ban on Nigerians seeking to enter the country and all submitted applications were rejected without refunding the visa fees to the applicants.