Japa: Desperate Nigerians reap losses, frustration after patronising fake visa syndicates
The desperation by some Nigerians to enter some countries that have strict visa regime has led some of them to procure fake visa, Olaide Oyelude, James Abraham, Chima Azubuike and Chika Otuchikere examine the experiences of these persons, the money lost and the lessons learnt
Smarting from the pain of the financial loss she suffered in her frantic bid to secure a visa to relocate to Qatar for greener pastures, Hadjia Ibrahim (Not real name) admitted, rather sadly, that she had yet to forgive herself for such desperation in the recent past.
A nurse with career prospects at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, Katsina State, Ibrahim said she almost resigned from her job to jump at the fake visa a syndicate arranged for her to journey to the beautiful country.
But beyond the delays and dashed hopes that eventually hit her, she said she lost about N600,000 to the fraudsters who promised to facilitate the trip before reality dawned on her and she aborted the plan.
She narrated her ordeal to one of our correspondents, “Some of our colleagues sold the idea of the trip to me and they actually introduced me to a syndicate in Kano. The people encouraged me to get a passport and other travelling documents. Of course, I obtained those documents with their assistance. Then, the waiting game began, followed by a series of extortion.
“They (the syndicate) would collect N20,000 today, N50,000 tomorrow, and at other times, N100,000. That was how they were collecting money from me with repeated assurances. At a point, I was even asked to bring my luggage to Kano preparatory to our take-off, ‘anytime’, but it was all a ruse. They told me they would help me to secure a job once I got to Qatar and that they would be responsible for my flight ticket.
“The luck I have, which remains my saving grace, was that when I travelled to Kano, hoping to leave the country from there, I did not drop my resignation letter at work. I only requested casual leave. That was what saved me; else I would be jobless by now.”
Meanwhile, the strict visa regime in most of the developed countries Nigerians aspire to travel or relocate to has made it impossible for many Nigerians planning to relocate, a situation that has led some to take illegal routes or embrace fraudulent means to obtain visas.
For example, a report, titled ‘Shorelight’, by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration in August indicated that the United States denied 71 per cent of students in Nigeria and other West African countries visas in 2022.
In fact, according to the alliance of American college and university leaders, data from MPOWER revealed that out of the 3,000 students from Sub-Saharan Africa admitted for graduate studies to a top US university in 2022, only about 60 per cent were granted a student visa despite being admitted and having secured the required funding.
The alliance argued that the high visa denial rates had reportedly resulted in African students falling victim to con schemes by fraudulent actors who offer false guarantees for securing a visa.
While visa denial does not justify crime, it, arguably, underscores the rate at which people, students and professionals inclusive, were desperate to leave the country.
The spate of brain drain in the country is now popularly known as Japa.
Further investigations showed that while many have become victims, the syndicates of fake visa merchants may have succeeded in facilitating the trips of some travellers, especially some persons from Zango, Baure and Sandamu in Katsina State, to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.
Meanwhile, many of their victims have been left in worse financial situations, in addition to the dashed hopes, even as many have yet to come out of the psychological trauma.
For example, Habibatu Samaila (not real name), until her sojourn outside the country, was a popular rice merchant at the Central Market, Katsina.
Her business was doing well until the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Her friends, who seemed concerned about her failing business, counselled her to relocate abroad and take up menial jobs to raise money to either start again or start another business.
It was learnt that in 2021, some friends introduced her to a syndicate that procures visas and facilitates people’s travel plans. As advertised, the group assisted her to travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but without the knowledge and consent of her husband.
There, it was learnt, she was engaged as a housekeeper and nanny.
Meanwhile, last July, her son, who was in SS2, was ‘arrested’ allegedly at the instance of the syndicate.
An agent working for the syndicate had allegedly told the boy at one of the outposts of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps that her mother listed him as her surety and since the woman had reportedly absconded from Saudi Arabia, he had to be arrested to recover the loans the syndicate advanced his mother for the trip and for her to settle down in Saudi Arabia.
But, one of the officials said, “Such cases are personal and private. You only hear when it backfires. Our ministries have no official record or formal report of such.”
In the first quarter of this year, the Lagos Police Special Fraud Unit arraigned a travel agent, Abioye Abolaji, for allegedly forging the United Nations invitation letters for no fewer than 77 visa applicants in the state, supposedly to enable them travel for UN conferences.
The spokesperson for the unit, Eyitayo Johnson, while arraigning the suspect said, Abolaji was arraigned on 11 counts bordering on alleged forgery, obtaining money by false pretence, false representation and stealing.
He said, “The arrest of the suspect was in furtherance of a petition from the Diplomatic Security Services Regional Security office at the United States Consulate General, Lagos, which requested discrete investigation into forged documents submitted by certain C-2 visa applicants to the Non-Immigrant Visa Unit of the USCG. The C-2 visa is an NIV category reserved for participants at United Nations conferences/events.
He said, “An investigation by the USCG and the PSFU into 77 C-2 applications from 24 organisations in Nigeria to attend two separate conferences, including the 67th session of the UN Commission, on the status of women and the UN 2023 Water Conference scheduled to take place in New York between March 22 and 24, 2023, revealed that most of the applicants are not qualified for the visa classification they applied for because the applicants provided forged UN invitation letters.
“The police investigation and interviews of the applicants led to the arrest of Abolaji, who was described as the arrowhead of a notorious syndicate that specialised in visa fraud. The Commissioner of Police, PSFU, Adepoju Ilori, consequently advised prospective visa applicants to desist from patronising document or visa vendors.”
Regrettably, in spite of warnings, many Nigerians have fallen victim to such practices.
“My stay was a very short-lived one. I had no option but to give up after wasting my money and time there. I realised that I had been swindled because there was nowhere to sleep or work as promised by the travel agency.
“When I returned, it was like starting afresh; no job, no money. I became a taxi driver. I had to collect the car I bought for my wife. It was the only way to support the family.”
Now an advocate of legitimate relocation, Akpata cautioned, “Those of you attempting to travel must be sure of what you are getting involved in. There is nothing like greener pastures. You must carefully make your choice in order not to regret the choices of today.”
Sunday PUNCH investigation revealed that desperation to leave the country and the stringent conditions for Nigerians to obtain a visa lured many victims into the crime.
For example, to obtain visa to some countries, applicants are mandated to produce letter of invitation from someone living abroad, current bank statement for the last six months, letter of employment, leave permission from an employer, income tax certificate, copy of company registration (for entrepreneurs), company bank statement for the last six months as well as proof of accommodation, the host’s bank statement, and their utility bills. Some also demand primary and secondary school certificates.
Sadly, the menace of fake visas has become a nationwide crime, fuelled by the desperation of many, especially the youths, to leave the country for greener pastures abroad.
In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, Area 10, Central Business District as well as Garki and Apo, to name a few, are some of the areas that are fast gaining notoriety for these engagements. Lagos also boasts of Oluwole on the Island; while Ikeja and Apapa are also hubs for the vice.
Sunday PUNCH learnt that he had yet to be arraigned.
Amerete, who is a regional executive of the Police Community Relations Committee, narrated to Sunday PUNCH how it began, noting that after he placed a Facebook advert at the instance of Oyelere, three young men contacted him to help them procure visas to Canada and the US.
Amerete said he did not suspect any foul play and that was why he paid the N6m he collected from the three applicants.
He said when he showed one Johnson, who introduced him to Oyelere, he also confirmed that the visas were genuine.
Unconvinced, Amerete said when he contacted the Canadian High Commission to double-check the authenticity of the visas, his fears were confirmed; the visas were fake.
According to him, this marked the beginning of a protracted ordeal that remains unsolved about two years after.
Amerete told Sunday PUNCH that since 2021 when he reported the visa scam to the FCT police command, the money had yet to be recovered. To make matters worse for him, he said the three clients who paid the N6m contacted bloggers who wrote articles that damaged his reputation.
However, he said when he confronted Oyelere with the evidence that the visas were ‘cancelled without prejudice’, he agreed and promised to make a full refund the following week, but that instead of honouring his promise, he disappeared until he was found and arrested in 2022 by the FCT police command.
Speaking on efforts made before he was arrested, Amerete said he paid N250,000 for tracking, adding, “They tracked him from December to February 2022. When it was proving abortive, I informed the police about an account I paid all the monies into, which Oyelere told me was his wife’s account.
“The police suggested that we should go for his wife. When they got her at the bank, the wife denied that they were married. She told the police that they were only dating but confessed that Oyelere came from time to time to collect her ATM card whenever anybody paid some money into the account.
“After she was thoroughly interviewed, she gave the lead to Oyelere’s whereabouts, and in February 2022, he was arrested. When the police read out my allegations against him, he accepted without denying any. When he was asked how he planned to pay back the N6m, he promised to pay in three instalments, promising that the first instalment would be paid in February, the second in March and the last by April 2022.
So far, he lamented that Oyelere had only paid N1.8m out of the N6m and that his last payment was July, 2022. He added that when he suggested that the suspect should be taken to court, the Investigating Police Officer identified as Barnabas, said it was better to allow him to continue the payment rather than go to court.
He said even after Oyelere absconded and was rearrested in connection with another complainant’s statement, he was asked to write a fresh statement, which had yet to produce better results.
Deeply traumatised by his ongoing ordeal, Amerete told one of our correspondents that given the stress he had gone through, he would have forfeited the money if it was his money. He however added, “I just want to know how that money can be recovered so that I can also refund the owners.”
He said Nigerians reserved the right to travel but that such must be safe, orderly and regular.
Speaking on this, a director in the Niger State Ministry of Tourism, Abubakar Ibrahim, stated, “It was high time people were aware of fraudsters providing them with fake visas. Beyond that, somebody told me how he spent more than a week in the desert, with no food or water. Only God saved him.”
Ibrahim further counselled, “It is better you stay here in Nigeria and let us salvage it together.”
Also, an athletic coach, Mohammed Isah, who said he had travelled for several international competitions, noted that even among sports men and women, it was common for coaches and trainers to take advantage of accompanying sports persons to Europe to escape.
He added, “A lot of our colleagues, especially from the southern part of the country, don’t want to come back to Nigeria after they have set foot on any of the European countries. A similar thing is common with northerners who travel to the Holy Land of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Some of them escape to other Middle East countries.
“Our governments should be responsible. Instead of shouting that people are fleeing the country, they should develop the country so that people can be encouraged to remain here.” Punch
