Getting Schengen, United Kingdom, United States, and certain other countries’ visas can be a nightmare. A retired Nigerian diplomat tells BusinessDay that, “while a Japanese businessman or citizen who has business or travel to do in the US or in EU countries would simply buy a ticket and fly to these countries, his Nigerian counterpart, on the other hand, faces humiliating and oppressive barriers in accessing a visa.”
A Nigerian would typically have to produce such array of daunting documents, including a letter of employment, current bank statement of the last six months, leave permission from an employer, income tax return form or certificate of income tax deducted at the source of salary, copy of company registration, company bank statement of the latest six months, as well as proof of accommodation, introduction letter, invitation letter from the host, host’s work details, host’s bank statements, and utility bills.
Western diplomats say that these immodest requirements are needed to ensure that only ‘genuine visitors’ are allowed into their countries. However, these ostentatious requirements have led to the creation and burgeoning of an ecosystem of corruption built around visa racketeering in Nigeria. This biome of fraud and sleaze permeates the judiciary, the banking sector, foreign diplomatic missions, and business centers across the country.
Within the court system, false affidavits aided by court officials are sworn to daily by those seeking to acquire visas. In addition, fake marriage certificates arranged by court officials are procured.
In Abuja, the Federal Capital, Commerce Plaza in Area 3, as well as UTC Shopping Complex in Area 10 with their unassuming maze of miscellaneous business centers have grown into major epicenters for the production and dissemination of fabricated documents presented to embassies by visa seekers.
Alfa (not real name) is a clinical pharmacist in one of the General Hospitals in Abuja. He told BusinessDay that he has used non-genuine documents designed by specialists in Area 10 to get visas to France, Australia, and the UK in the past. He specialises in providing this false documentation to those who need them.
“If you want Buhari’s signature, we can get it for you here,” he tells me. “We help those who need them by providing them with documents such as utility bills, income tax certificates, company registration certificates, and others”.
He further tells me that he helps clients to source for other critical documents desired by foreign missions. “What we cannot produce here, we get it from other people across the world. So, if an embassy needs a letter of invitation, I know people in the US, UK, and Europe from whom we can get letters of invitation. I know people abroad who would provide proof of accommodation, and I know people in Nigeria and overseas who I can get bank statements from, including bankers.”
But the pervasive corruption goes beyond the network of dishonest document production. It goes right into the embassies themselves.
“I was going to one of the Caribbean countries last August,” Bola tells me. She had applied for a UK transit visa, which had been rejected by the British High Commission. “I was introduced to this gentleman, who I would ordinarily have dismissed as a boor had he not been introduced to me by a dear friend. He assured me I would get the visa and asked me to re-apply again. He requested N400,000, which I paid him and in less than two weeks, I got the visa.
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