Popular Nigerian cross-dresser, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju (better known as Bobrisky) has recounted how he was deported from the United Arab Emirates the last time he visited the Islamic country.
Bobrisky said that, on arriving at the airport in Dubai, he was sent back to Nigeria because of the country’s Islamic laws which prohibit cross-dressing.
He said he has been to Dubai several times but was deported that fateful day because it was on a jumʿah day.
The cross-dresser was featured on the recent episode of the TokeMoments audiovisual podcast hosted by Toke Makinwa.
He said: “The last time I went to Dubai, I was sent back to Nigeria. I have been to there so many times. But that one was their prayer, I think one of their special days. It happened to be on Friday, they go to the mosque. They are holy so extra on that day. When I got there, the camera did not accept my face. You know me na, I was on makeup, I want to brag first class, I want to talk ‘oh! guys, I’ve been to Dubai. Your mummy is in first class’.
“So, I got to the Immigration where you are going to do everything. They saw my passport, they looked at my face. They said ‘face camera’. And I faced the camera. It rejected my face several times. They [Immigrantion officers] said ‘are you sure you’re the same person?’ And I said ‘yes’.
“The man looked at me, he said ‘Idris, you are a Muslim?’. I said ‘yes’. He looked at my passport. He was confused.
“So, we went to one of their private offices. And they said ‘are you trans or..’ I said ‘ well, I used to be a guy’. And they said ‘oh! on a normal day if it is not Friday’ they would have just allowed me in. But because it was Friday, jumʿah day, they said ‘no, they can’t allow me in’”, he recalled.
