Former Chairman of Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Senator Hassan Barata, who represented Adamawa South in the sixth Senate, is reportedly in detention in Saudi Arabia.

Barata defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) last February, but returned to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) after losing his bid to pick the governorship ticket.

According to reports, Barata claimed to be an employee of the Nigerian Embassy when he was arrested and quizzed – a claim that was found to be untrue.

The senator is believed to have traveled to the Kingdom a few weeks ago, and may have overstayed when he was picked up.

He was believed to be holding an official passport on the trip.

The Federal Government has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to retrieve diplomatic and official passports from all persons who are not entitled to hold such documents.