A Nigerian investigative journalist and filmmaker recently recounted his distressing encounter with Zimbabwean authorities when he attempted to enter the country using a Ghanaian refugee passport. His ordeal sparked an online diplomatic discussion on Twitter after he was denied entry.

David Hundeyin took to Twitter on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, at 7:32 PM to express his frustration, sharing how he was detained for a staggering 7 hours upon his arrival at Harare Airport, despite presenting a refugee passport from Ghana.

In a series of tweets, the journalist described being confined to a malodorous locked room for nearly 7 hours and only being permitted to use the washroom after 10 hours of detention.

Hundeyin further clarified that although he traveled with a Ghanaian refugee passport, the authorities insisted he could not enter the country without a visa, leading to the unfortunate situation. The incident sparked conversations on Twitter about the challenges faced by journalists and travelers in similar situations.

“They said that despite using the travel document of a country with a visa-free relationship, my nationality is still Nigerian, and thus, I need a visa,” he tweeted.

David Hundeyin provided a comprehensive account of the events leading to his detention and the reasons behind it. This came after Zimbabwe's Permanent Secretary in the Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Service, Nick Manwana, shared some details about the incident in a tweet.

According to David's explanation, he had no prior knowledge of the visa requirement for traveling to Zimbabwe, as he possessed a refugee passport from Ghana. The refugee passport should have granted him visa-free entry into the country.

He further expressed that in the past two years, he had utilized the same Ghanaian refugee passport to visit numerous countries worldwide without encountering any issues. It was only in Zimbabwe that he faced refusal of entry with this particular passport.

The incident sparked discussions online, raising awareness about visa policies and the challenges faced by travelers, particularly those with refugee passports, when trying to enter certain countries.

“I wasn't aware that it is standard operating procedure in Zimbabwe for the country's minister of information to tweet the asylum status of a foreigner, but since you've resorted to telling half truths, perhaps you should mention to your audience that I came into Zimbabwe with this valid Ghanaian refugee passport, which I have used to travel extensively over the world for 2 years.

“I'm sure you saw the valid UK Visa inside it. I'm also sure that you saw the numerous entry and exit stamps inside it belonging to multiple jurisdictions inside and outside Africa. Only in Zimbabwe have I EVER had an issue travelling with this document.

“You might also want to share with your audience that I put a call through to the Zimbabwean embassy in Accra before I travelled, to confirm that I did not need a visa, and that J was expressly advised that as long as the airline was happy to recognise the travel document, I would have no problem coming into Zimbabwe visa-free,” he tweeted.

Being the journalist he is, a number of people, after seeing the series of tweets by David Hundeyin, prompted authorities in Zimbabwe, from which Nick Mangwana, the Permanent Secretary in the Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Service responded to one of them.

In the tweet, Nick wrote that although the journalist had documents showing he was from Ghana as a refugee, he was Nigerian and as such, he needed a visa to enter their country.

“David came with Ghanaian Refuge papers claiming he was a Nigerian who was a refugee from his home country. His country of Asylum is Ghana after claiming to be running away from persecution in Nigeria.

“People in this category certainly need Visas to enter Zimbabwe. He wasn’t coming in to work as a journalist. He said he was just coming to visit but without getting a Visa in Ghana first. Other parts of his story were also unsatisfactory to the immigration authorities. He was considered not a candidate for entry into Zimbabwe,” he said in the first of his reactions to a Twitter user’s message.

The Zimbabwean authority further explained in other replies that David Hundeyin was also not fully honest with officials.

While refraining from confirming whether or not they detained the journalist for hours, Nick Mangwana said, in response to a question in that respect, that “That’s his side of the story.”

The journalist tweeted again that he eventually got released and safely returned home, although it is unclear whether that is in Ghana or in Nigeria.