Nigerians living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been reported to account for one of the highest crime rates in the Asian country, an official said.

Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide on diaspora affairs Abike Dabiri-Erewa said the crime rate credited to Nigerians in the UAE was a sad reality.

The World Population Review data of 2022 ranks the UAE as the 60th safest country in the world with 15.23% crime rate from a population of 9.4million residents.

Dabiri-Erewa, who heads the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), was reacting to a tweet on the effect of Nigerians living in Dubai on the UAE.

The Nigerian official drew cheers from many who think she is intolerant of actions that do not reflect the values of Nigeria while others accused the presidential aide of ‘demarketing’ Nigeria and Nigerians.

The tweet of the NiDCOM chairman came days after the UAE government slammed a visa ban on Nigerians and nationals of other African countries.

A notice from the UAE government to trade partners, travel agents, and authorities said there will be no visa applications for citizens from 20 African countries.

The countries are Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros and Dominican Republic.

The UAE directed that all applications from the listed countries should be rejected as it “will not be posting 30 days visa applications for these nationalities effective today October, 18, 2022.

“Any applications from the above-mentioned countries will be sent back or cancelled.”

This is coming weeks after the country tightened the visa process for prospective visitors to the UAE. The UAE government said the rejection notices would be sent in batches to applicants.

The UAE did not state a reason for the visa ban on Nigeria and other countries, but Dubai authorities at the time declared that all applications were on-hold until issues between the UAE government and the Nigerian government were resolved.