Dunchi Lar, the Nigerian lady who shot and shared videos of the United Arab Emirate immigration officers mistreating Nigerians at Dubai airport, has been sentenced to one year in jail and her family has planned a protest.

According to the family, since the lady deleted the video from her timeline, she did not deserve the harsh judgement.

A family member, who asked not to be named, told FIJ that the family would be appealing the judgement.

The source told FIJ that Lar, with Twitter handle @dunchichi, had recorded the video in August, when she and some Nigerians were detained by the immigration officers at the Dubai International Airport.

She had uploaded the video, which went viral then, and a picture on Twitter to share her ordeal with Nigerians.

I'm at Dubai international airport and myself and some tiger Nigerians with valid Visas are being held in a room hours after arriving with no explain and no information on what we can do. Please help me. There's more than 20 of us pic.twitter.com/6LpchsoJU2

— Dinchi. (@dunchichi) August 31, 2022

It was later discovered that the immigration officers had stopped her and others from entering the country due to visa-related issues.

In reaction to her posts, the Nigerian government had issued a statement, advising Nigerians planning to travel to Dubai to indicate their visa preferences to avoid similar treatments.

Although Lar was eventually allowed entry into the country after her sister, who was in Dubai at the time, came to her rescue, she was prevented from leaving the country on September 6.

“She was to leave in the morning, but when she got to the airport, the airline said they could not check her in because she had been flagged. After going between immigration office and police station, she was asked to go to the CID office,” Lar’s relative told FIJ.

“We involved the Nigerian consulate at that point. She was questioned and they took her statement. And from there, they did not let her out again. She was detained from there.

“They later fixed a court date, hinting at cybercrime. On September 28, there was a hearing, and the charge that was read against her bordered on the fact that she recorded a video that showed the face of their immigration officer and posted it on the internet.

“After the hearing, they said the judgement was to be out on October 12. On that day, she was sentenced to one-year imprisonment. But she has submitted an appeal regarding the judgement.”

Her relatives are also trying to see how they can follow up on the appeal with a lawyer.

Meanwhile, it is a crime to post, publish or share videos of violations or illegal actions under the United Arab Emirate’s cybercrime law as it could attract at least six months in jail as well as a fine between Dh150,000 to Dh500,000.

FIJ sent separate emails to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but neither responded to the message.