- Safiu Kehinde
Miss Universe Nigeria, Chidinma Adethsina, is at risk of getting her South African identity and travel document stripped.
This is coming after the South African Department of Home Affairs announced the withdrawal of her ID papers to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
Prior to her emergence as winner of the Miss Universe Nigeria, Chidinma had made it to the finals of Miss South Africa beauty pageant.
This would raised eyebrow amongst South Africans as she became subject of scrutiny over her eligiblity due to her mother’s Mozambican roots and her Nigerian father’s nationality.
Her Nigerian bond caused stir and exposed her to heavy criticism and Xenophobic backlash, leading to the intervention of the Department of Home Affairs.
Chidinma was forced to withdraw from the race after preliminary investiagtion revealed that her mother might have committed “identity theft” to acquire South African citizenship.
She would be invited by the organizers of the Miss Universe Nigeria which she eventually won.
Addressing the parliament yesterday, Tommy Makhode, the department’s top civil servant, stated that Adetshina’s mother would also have her documents cancelled, as they both failed to meet the deadline to justify their eligibility.
However, neither Adetshina nor her mother has commented on the decision to revoke their documents.
Makhode mentioned that the case has been referred to the Hawks, a special police unit that investigates serious crimes, which concluded that it was a “case of fraud.”
Officials are now awaiting instructions from prosecutors on how to proceed.
According to reports, Chidinma is currrently at Mexico to represent Nigeria at the Miss Universe competition on 16 November.
She will be competing against contestants across the globe, including Miss South Africa’s eventual winner-Mia le Roux.