'I Wouldn’t Let You Leave My Country’: Travel Blogger Recounts Hearing Eerie Comment from Nigerian Official

New Delhi:  American YouTuber and travel blogger Lexie Alford shared a disturbing incident that occurred while she was leaving Nigeria, where an immigration official told her he wouldn’t let her leave the country and would chain her up in the basement. 

Lexie, also known as Lexie Limitless online, opened up about the incident on Instagram through a post on April 5, She also posted a cheerful video of herself taken just before the encounter. She said that she was travelling alone when an immigration officer made an offensive remark at the airport. As she was handing over her passport, the officer reportedly stared at her from top to bottom and said, “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t let you leave my country. I’d chain you up in my basement.” 

The remark left her stunned and speechless. She mentioned that the incident happened in broad daylight, right in the presence of several other officers. “In the middle of the day. Surrounded by other officers. While holding my passport,” Lexie wrote. She did not react at the moment, overwhelmed by shock and discomfort.

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In her Instagram post, Lexie described how the power dynamics of the situation made the encounter even more disturbing. “It’s one of the creepiest things anyone has ever said to me and made worse by the fact that it came from someone in a position of power,” she wrote.

While she managed to board her flight safely and leave Nigeria, Lexie said the memory of the comment stayed with her. As someone who has travelled solo across the globe and visited hundreds of destinations, this wasn’t just another bad travel story—it was a moment that made her reflect on the risks women travellers still face around the world.

Who is Lexie Alford?

Lexie Alford is an American traveller who is  the youngest person to visit every country in the world. On May 31, 2019, she entered North Korea, marking her visit to the last of the 196 sovereign nations. With this, she had completed her goal.

Lexie didn’t start with the idea of breaking a record. Born into a family that runs a travel agency in California, travel was a regular part of her childhood. She says she has been exploring the world since she was very young, without even realising that she was slowly visiting more and more countries. Over time, she turned her childhood experiences into a serious goal and has now inspired many around the world with her achievement.