POLICE SMASH VISA RACKET SYNDICATE IN LAGOS

Two men are currently being detained by the police at the Special Fraud Unit, over alleged visa racketeering at the British Deputy High Commission in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The two men, Jude Oseiwe Esebanmhen and Charles Abayomi Sanusi, were recently rounded up by the police following a petition from the High Commission against the two men. It was reported that Esebanmhen, 26, had filed application for a British visa with Nigerian Passport No. A04701778 for six months duration but the application was rejected.
Shortly after that, Esebanmhen again sought for Spanish visa but this time with a fake UK Entry Clearance Visa on his passport. The aim was to deceive Spanish embassy officials that he already had right of passage to the United Kingdom.
However, the Spanish Embassy deployed their trained forgery officer to check Esebanmhen’s documents which later turned out to be fake documents. Esebanmhen, a native of Esan North-East Local Government of Edo State was reportedly picked up while he came to pick up his visa with the Spanish Embassy on the appointed day.
Sanusi, 40, Esebanmhen’s partner-incrime, a trained concrete fabricator runs a visa agency office at Shogunle area of Lagos State, from where he help unsuspecting applicants to secure visas to virtually all European countries. Investigations revealed that Sanusi also procured fake documents like hotel reservation, insurance certificate, ticket, invitation letters, employment documents and statements of account for those who need them.
When his office was raided, fake visas, fake arrival and departure stamps of Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Ghana and the U.K were discovered there. Sanusi was subsequently picked up and he is also assisting law enforcement agents to unravel the visa racketeering.
In his confession, Esebanmhen, a graduate of Ambrose Alli University, claimed that he was introduced to Sanusi, who agreed to assist in securing the Spanish visa. “When I could not secure the British visa I then looked up to Spain since I was informed that someone could assist.
That was how I met Mr. Sanusi, who later introduced me to Alhaji Oyekanmi,” he said. Sanusi, on his own, said he was not an accredited agent to the Embassy but he often found a way to assist prospective travellers to secure visas. He said: “I am not a licensed agent to the Embassy but Alhaji and I used to meet at CMS Bus Stop where we perfect ways for intending travellers.”
When asked how much he collected from each applicant, Sanusi claimed each of them paid a minimum of N150, 000 for his service. Ngozi Isintume-Agu, sspokesperson for the Special Fraud Unit, told reporters that the unit has launched a manhunt for the fleeing accomplice.
Source: National Mirror