By Nnenna Ibeh

The Republic of Seychelles has banned all visitors holding the Nigerian passport for short-term visas or holiday purposes.

In a rejection email sent to a traveller, the Seychelles immigration office said their decision is based on the country's immigration regulations.

Details of the rejection shared by a content creator, @munafromtravelletters, on the micro-blogging site Twitter says the visa application was denied as Seychelles is not accepting Nigerian passport holders for holiday purposes.

A screenshot of the rejection mail reads: "We regret to inform you that your application has been denied, as per immigration regulation, for now we are not accepting any NIGERIAN passport holder for holiday purposes. 

"Kindly contact http://www.ics.gov.sc/ (Seychelles Immigration) or call 248 4 293 636 for more information."

Another intending traveller, @Nkemdiary who suffered the same fate said her authorisation form to Seychelles was denied at Kotaka Airport, Ghana.

Nkem adds, “Being Nigerian can be challenging at times. Just yesterday, my authorization form to Seychelles was denied at Kotoka airport, while my Ghanaian friend's was approved right before my eyes. It's hard to express how disheartened I felt.”

However, a review of the Seychelles immigration website by AMAKA shows that the country stated that it operates a visa-free process that allows travellers from all over the world except Kosovo entry.

It says, "Seychelles is a visa-free country, which means that there are no visa requirements for any persons wishing to travel except for passport holders from Kosovo as Seychelles does not recognized the State of Kosovo therefore, entry will not be permitted."

"Although a visa is not required to enter Seychelles by other passport holders, visitors should nevertheless have in their possession a valid passport or other travel documents recognized by the government of Seychelles in order to gain entry.

"The passport MUST be valid for the period of the intended stay until arrival back in the holder's country of origin or residence."

Nigeria's long-standing relationship with Seychelles

Seychelles' ban on all Nigerian passport holders comes barely six months after Nigeria signed a bilateral agreement with the country for direct flights. The agreement followed approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the memorandum on signing and ratification of the air service Agreement between the two countries.

Nigeria has always enjoyed a long-standing visa-free agreement with the country allowing its citizens free entry without a visa for 30 days.

This new development comes as one of the many challenges Nigerian passport holders face, especially compared to others with some passport privilege.