The desperate quest for visas to Europe and the United States of America is getting a lot of Nigerians into trouble. An example is that of a 24 years old lady who goes by the name Vivian who has been banned for life from setting foot in the US.
Vivian, like many others, applied for a visa with fake documents. Vivian who is a trained accountant had a fake United Bank of Africa (UBA) identity card; she claimed to be a worker with the bank, but ironically, she had never worked in any UBA branch in her life. She also had a UBA bank statement, but that too was fake.
On her passport, she had stamped many entries to foreign countries including Germany which all turned out to be fake after cross-examination by the US embassy official. By showing a rich travel history, this will boost her chance of getting US visa.
After she was arrested by the police, she confessed that her uncle organized the documents for her.
“It is my uncle that prepared everything for me. He collected N150,000 as payment. I was living in the East when he asked me to come to Lagos that he would assist me to travel overseas. I was staying in his house until my arrest. When I called him that police wanted him to come to SFU, he didn’t say anything. He later said I should go home and pick the key by the window. He said that I should pick my things that were in the house and leave.”
The Lagos State Police Special Fraud Public Relations Officer, Lawal Audu, said it has received over 1,185 applicants with fake documents from Italian Embassy, with many of them charged to courts. According to him, many of the embassies, which partner with SFU, have zero tolerance for forgery. Audu noted that these embassies are mainly interested in issuing visas to credible Nigerians.
Audu said the SPU is in good working relations with American, Italian and the UK embassies, and that each has its peculiarities. “The American consulate general for instance; every day we receive complaints of fake visa applicants. But the most disturbing is the fake visas, fake stamps, both arrival and departure stamps. Most of these applicants appear at the consulate with passports covered with fake travel history,”
He gave an example of Ogunyemi Raheem Oladipupo, was also arrested for being in possession of fake UK visa.
“The young man’s passport had a fake Heathrow stamp, but he had never travelled out of Nigeria. We always have many applicants with fraudulent documents,” Audu said.
He called on Nigerians to stop patronizing visa vendors. “These visa vendors are everywhere. They will tell prospective customers or clients that they had assisted over hundred people to get the American visa. They will promise to help. And because these visa seekers are vulnerable or don’t care to know how they can apply for a visa, they fall prey.
“If you want to know how to apply for visas, just go to the internet. You don’t need to pay anyone or give money to anyone. But rather, many Nigerians prefer to give money to touts, visa agents and visa vendors. Nobody is appointed to be a visa vendor by any embassy or high commission.”
