South African Immigration officials Hating On Nigerians(MUST READ)

Hmm,,South African Immigration should take it easy oh. A travel agent narrates how her client was disrespected, illegally held in a cell and deported from South Africa after arriving the country yesterday April 18th...because according to SA immigration, the man hadn't paid for his hotel reservation. And we've all heard the stories of how Nigerians and their businesses are attacked in the country. What is going on? Read what she wrote below...

"One of my biggest clients, Michael Olusegun Osatuyi decided to spend a weekend break during the Easter period in South Africa to get away from the stress of his job for a while.

"He purchased a South African Airways Business Class ticket worth over N500,000 for this purpose and proceeded to set out on Thursday, April 17th 2014. As with all trips abroad he had previously made, he made a hotel reservation via booking.com. When he arrived the Lagos airport, he was informed he could not board the flight unless the reservation had been paid for. This was promptly done on the hotel website, Crowne Plaza Rosebank Johannesburg and the card was pre-authorised after which he was allowed to board the flight.

 

The first question is: when citizens of other countries travel to South Africa, are they forced to pay for their stay before they arrive the hotel premises? Are they denied boarding even when they have confirmed reservations booked with their debit/credit card details? In spite of this, Mr. Osatuyi paid and boarded.

When he arrived Johannesburg at 5.00am South African time on Friday, the 18th, the immigration officer called the hotel and reached a member of staff that saw the cancelled booking.com reservation and said the reservation had not been paid for.

 

My client promptly called me and I in turn called Crowne Plaza and spoke to a professional gentleman called Mondli who sent me the proof of payment and a copy of the reservation. I sent them to Mr. Osatuyi, who by this time had his phones seized from him by the immigration officials and locked up in a common cell with the key taken away like a criminal!!!

 

When I could no longer reach Mr. Osatuyi, I called various numbers of the South African immigration until I reached the woman in charge of the case. To say she was hostile would be an understatement. She refused to give her name but she picked up the phone number +27115718734 four times between the hours of 7:14 and 8:20 South African time so she can easily be traced. I explained that the hotel employee she spoke to had referred to the booking.com reservation and that she should call the hotel again to confirm that there was indeed proof of payment. She insisted that she can only call any hotel once after which I asked the Hotel Manager to call her which he did. He later informed me that she was extremely hostile and said she had taken a decision that could not be reversed and that Mr. Osatuyi had been assigned to leave with the next flight back to Lagos at 2:00pm.

Mr. Osatuyi was denied access to his phones, a lawyer and consular staff throughout his stay in that cell. He had a business class ticket but was denied access to the business lounge at the airport until he boarded the flight.

 

This situation, in my opinion is completely unacceptable! Even in more advanced countries like the United States and United Kingdom, passengers are granted the right of access and hotel reservations are paid for on arrival at the hotel.

Why are Nigerians treated like trash in South Africa? Mr. Osatuyi deserves an unreserved apology from the South African government because it is a slap on the citizenry of this country and we find it unacceptable that a hard working person like himself would be treated as a criminal charged with an offence.

 

I also believe that if this trend continues, we should be reciprocal in our attitude towards South African citizens when they arrive our shores. Full payment of hotel accommodation must be made before they board flights to our esteemed country.

 

Enough is enough! Justice must be served.

Sincerely

Adebisi Adegbite Kuforiji

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Nigerian Arrested at US Airport After Choosing Misguided Cover Story

A Nigerian man claiming to be a prison guard back home landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Saturday and allegedly told U.S. authorities he was headed to Philadelphia to attend the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference.

After all, as organizers put it, the conference is “the premier event for law enforcement” and an “invaluable forum for learning, collaborating and experiencing new technology” with “colleagues and peers from all over the world.”

But by the time Kolawole Fakokunde’s flight from Lagos, Nigeria, aboard Arik Airlines arrived, the IACP conference had been over for nearly two weeks.

“This guy clearly is not the sharpest tool in the shed,” said one senior Homeland Security official who attended IACP. “The last place you should be [referencing] to break the law is a conference with thousands of law enforcement officials.”

That didn’t stop Fakokunde from handing his Nigerian passport and a visitor visa to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer he encountered on Saturday, according to documents filed in federal court.

The CBP officer referred Fakokunde for further screening and questioning. During that “secondary inspection,” Fakokunde ultimately told the CBP officer that someone else “helped him complete his visa application,” in which he falsely claimed to be a prison guard traveling to the U.S. to attend IACP, court documents say.

Based on the information he provided at the time to the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs in Lagos, Fakokunde was issued a valid visitor’s visa.

But he has since “admitted that he was not employed as a prison guard, that he did not intend to travel to Philadelphia to attend the IACP conference, and that his true purpose for visiting the United States was vacation,” according to the court documents.

He could be staying in the U.S. for longer than he expected. Fakokunde has now been charged in federal court with “knowingly and willfully” trying to use a U.S. visa obtained through false information. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

The U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case with CBP, a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“It does show that the system’s working,” an IACP spokesperson told ABC News. “All the checks and balances.”

A substantial number of bona fide law enforcement personnel from Nigeria did attend IACP, officials said.

“When you walked the exhibition and the conference areas, it was not uncommon to see Nigerian officials attending for legitimate reasons,” the Homeland Security official told ABC News.

Only weeks earlier, a delegation of Nigerian police also attended the Police Innovation Conference in Cambridge, Mass.

Source:ABCnews

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Over 100 Foreigners Arrested in Benue State

Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam said the state’s command of the Nigeria Immigration Service has arrested 100 suspected illegal foreigners.

He said most of those arrested were from Chad, Niger and Ghana.

Suswam announced this at the weekend while addressing Makurdi Club 1930 patron’s night. He commended men of the immigration service for the arrest, stressing the need for Benue citizens to remain alert and report suspicious movement in their neighbourhood to the security agents.

Suswam said his government was willing to partner with law enforcement agencies and other corporate organization with the aim of tackling security challenges in the state in order to create conducive atmosphere for law abiding citizens to do business.

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N7b missing from immigration's acct - Comptroller General

Members of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Interior were stunned yesterday by the confession of the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mrs. Rose Uzoma, on how in 2011, N10.3 billion was generated by the body, but N3.4 billion was remitted to the federation account.

The Immigration boss could not provide satisfactory answer to the two committees when she was asked how the balance of N7 billion was expended.

Appearing before the committee to defend the 2012 fiscal budget, the Immigration boss explained that the revenue generated comprises of N8,192,717,842.77 and off-shore earnings of $13,378,206 (N2,140,512,320).

This is just as the Interior Minister, Mr. Abba Moro, announced that despite the presidential broadcast of reducing federal overheads and ministers’ salaries by 10 and 25 per cent respectively, no circular to such directive has been issued.

Speaking on the issuance of passports, the Immigration Comptroller-General put a unit production cost of Nigerian International Passport booklet at N4,900, but sold to the citizens at N8,750 leaving a profit margin of N3,850 out of which N1,250 is paid as technology fees to “e-revenue collection partners”.

"The remaining N2,600 was the remittance made to the federation account, while in the year ending 2011, a total of 722,327 Nigerian International Passports were issued," she disclosed.

Apparently dissatisfied with her presentation, the panel co-chairmen, Senator Atiku Bagudu and Umar Bature from the House of Representatives called for “comprehensive analysis of the construction of passports in Nigeria and every cost embedded in the gross earnings and report back on Monday.

Also defending its ministry's budget before the committee, Moro bemoaned the transfer of certain government agencies which he described as the hub of internal security to another ministry, noting that the transfer made it difficult for them to operate satisfactorily.

He informed the joint committee that although the Federal Government was studying the situation, he lamented that the removal of Police Affairs and Customs Service from the Interior Ministry had limited their internal security assignment.

He, therefore, canvassed for adequate funding to enable them procure certain instruments that would enhance border surveillance and further stressed: “At the moment, there are no defined border spots such as plaza or posts to determine immigration and emigration of persons and goods from the country."

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Immigration close Borno,Yobe borders

The Nigeria Immigration Service, has embarked on total closure of the nation’s borders in Borno and Yobe States with the support of other Security Agencies.

Considering the security imperatives of the announcement by President Goodluck Jonathan declaring state of emergency in some Local Government Areas in Borno and Yobe States , the Nigeria Immigration Service was mandated to ensure the closure of the borders of the affected States.

A statement from the NIS signed by the (Assistant Comptroller of Immigration Service) Public Relation Officer JoachimOlumba said it has “the Comptroller General of Immigration Service, Mrs. Rose Chinyere Uzoma, mobilized officers and men of affected State Commands to intensify surveillance, monitoring and patrol of the borders in those States.

She also deployed her deputies to the affected States to supervise the implementation of the border closure order, so as to ensure the exercise attains maximum level of compliance.

Furthermore, at the instance of the Comptroller General of Immigration, authorities of the Army, Police, Customs and Civil Defence deployed their operatives with the necessary logistics to assist Nigeria Immigration Service in patrolling and monitoring the extensive borders of Borno and Yobe States .

All these were in addition to the massive deployment of officers and men of Immigration Zone ‘C’ by the Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Bakari Betso, an Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration.

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FG of Nigeria deports 25 Chinese men

Federal Government has deported 25 Chinese from the country as it emerged that 300,000 foreigners living in Nigeria were registered by the Nigerian Immigration Service

Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mrs. Rose Uzoma, who said this during an oversight visit by the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, however, lamented that Nigeria had become less attractive for foreign investors.

She told the Senator Dahiru Kuta-led committee that less foreign investment was coming into the country, compared to Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya.

She said: “You have heard so much about Chinese staying illegally in Nigeria, we do remove Chinese regularly. If we discover them, we remove them. Last week, we removed 25 Chinese, we deport those who commit crimes.

“I am not saying that you cannot find one or two foreigners who are not living here on irregular immigration status. But again, there is no country in the world where you cannot find such people,” she added.

“Seeing foreigners on the streets of Nigeria does not mean that they are of irregular status. Most of them are legal residents. Distinguished Senators, there are not many foreigners in Nigeria. We have well over just 300,000 legally resident in Nigeria, in a population of over 160 million people.

“Those of us who travel, when you are coming back to Nigeria, I am sure you can count the number of foreigners in the aircraft. Nigeria is not yet a destination of choice. You see foreigners in Senegal, there are more in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya and other places, you see a lot of tourists there.”

The comptroller-general, who also responded to the senators on the rising incidences of human trafficking in Nigeria, said the NIS was encumbered by inadequate staff and finance to tackle the menace.

She said with only about 23,000 staff, the NIS could not properly man the nation’s land borders, but added that the international airports have been properly upgraded to combat any attempt at trafficking.

“We have secured our international airports; it is very difficult for those people to go through the airport. But our land borders still remain porous. The strength of any security outfit depends on the strength men and logistics. If you secure the international airports, they will go through the land borders,” she said.

A member of the committee, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, in his closing remarks, commended the NIS but added that the committee would ensure that the service adhered strictly to federal character principles.

This, he said, will create a sense of belonging amongst all Nigerian, adding that it was not the intention of the committee that merits and standard should be traded for federal character principle.

His words: “Because of the crucial nature of your assignment, we do not want efficiency to be sacrifice for efficacy of federal character, if we are not efficient in our borders, will be in trouble.”

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Immigration Intercept 100 Libyan mercenaries in Kaduna

THE Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), in Kaduna, has arrested over 100 suspected mercenaries from Libya. They were suspected to have fled the country and arrived in Kaduna through the Niger-Nigeria border at the weekend, after the fall of the regime of Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

The suspects, according to an eyewitness, arrived in the state at about 2.00 p.m. on Friday looking exhausted and unkempt. According to the eyewitness, “as they filed through heavily armed Immigration officials at the Kaduna zonal office of the Nigerian Immigration Service(NIS),they were made to sit on the ground on the premises right in front of the office of the Zonal Comptroller under the watch of heavily armed officials while documentation procedure went on.”

The suspects were said to be with some members of their families, including children, and were conveyed in two luxury buses. “One of the suspects, who craved for anonymity, said that they had been wandering in the desert for the past three weeks before they were apprehended by the Immigration officials at the Niger-Nigeria border. 

He said they left Libya and wandered in the desert before their arrest and subsequent conveyance to Kaduna from the Niger-Nigeria border. However, newsmen were told that the command needed to obtain clearance from Abuja and liaise with other relevant security agencies, particularly, the State Security Service(SSS), Police and the Army before speaking with the press.

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