2 Britons docked for alleged forgery of Nigerian visa, impersonation

LAGOS – The Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, has dragged two Britons before a Federal High Court, Lagos, over alleged forgery of Nigerian visa and impersonation of the Director of Citizens and Business Department, Ministry of Interior, Mr. Adetayo Sode.

The accused, Ian Cunliff and Ofir More, were said to have conspired to forge expatriate quota approval with reference number MIA/B/3939/1/41 on September 28, 2011 of the Ministry of Interior, and business permit with number FMI/B/3939/1/43 of Federal Ministry of Interior. 

 Cunliff and More were also alleged to have forged the signature of the Director, Citizenship and Business of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Sode, whose signature was on the forged expatriate quota approval. According to the charge, the offences of forgery and impersonation allegedly committed by the Britons and their companies are contrary to Sections 465 and 484 and punishable under Section 47(1) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. 

 In the 16-count charge by the Immigration Legal Officer, D. Babale, the two Britons, Ian Cunliff of 4, Wumego Crescent, Christ Avenue, Off Admiralty Way, Lekki and Ofir More, British citizen of Media Park, 40d River Road, Barking, England and three other companies, C25 Nigeria Limited, WTC International Holdings Nigeria Limited and WTC UK Limited on 28 September, 2011 allegedly conspired to forge Nigerian visa in the British passport of Ian Cunliff. 

 Babale informed the court that the Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, Isa Bukar; Sode and Deputy Director, Citizenship and Business Department, Ministry of Interior, Abuja would appear as his three witnesses in prosecuting the Britons. Trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, adjourned the matter till May 24.

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Govt identifies 1,497 illegal routes to Nigeria

Federal Government has identified 1,497 irregular routes being used by illegal immigrants to gain entry into the country.

Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, said this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

Moro said the development had made it difficult for the government to properly secure its international borders.

He said the government was concerned about the nation’s porous borders, especially when some of the illegal immigrants had been allegedly playing active roles in the security challenges facing the country.

He said, “There is no doubt that in any country, foreigners come in. There is no exception to that but when criminally-minded foreigners come into the country with legitimate papers, without proper travel documents, it becomes a concern for the government.

“Moreso, when these foreigners are alleged to be part of insecurity by participating in suicide bombings and some of the conflicts that we have on our hands, certainly it is a serious concern for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It is as a result of this concern that the Federal Government has started to increase attention to addressing this border porosity.”

Apart from building watch posts, Moro said the government would introduce electronic components to the surveillance of the Nigerian borders with a central post in Abuja or any part of the country.

He expressed the hope that the electronic surveillance would help reduce if not completely eliminate border infiltration.

The minister reiterated the resolve of government to capture the biometric data of all persons entering and leaving Nigeria.

He said, “We are presently partnering with Galaxy Backbone, it is the major platform for capturing this data and of course the national identity commission is in an aggressive move to ensure we have adequate data record of all persons that enter and leave Jos and all persons including Nigerians resident in Nigeria. We will get there soon.”

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