By Ime Akpan
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said that it seized over 372 passports from Nigerians involved in visa scam.
Speaking yesterday in Lagos at a one-day seminar on curbing visa scam, the commission’s chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta,said ICPC had given owners of such passports two months to collect them at its headquarters in Abuja.
He warned that should the owners fail to collect the documents the case would be handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) which would invariably blacklist them from travelling abroad.
He warned unwary travellers against patronising touts at embassies and urged embassies and high commissions in Nigeria to sanitise their visa processes and entrench a culture of integrity in the visa acquisition in the country.
He said: “The imposition of unreasonable procedures by some embassies and high commissions seems to have exacerbated the already complicated visa acquisition process which tends to promote corruption-prone processes by unofficial cartels within and outside the embassies. We are creating awareness on how to acquire visas in a transparent manner and helping to eradicate corruption-prone processes.”
Earlier, in his remarks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali, had said that the involvement of some Nigerians in visa scam had tarnished the image of the country.
He said: “Today, touts have constituted themselves into visa procurement agents, luring peace and law-abiding citizens into engaging knowingly or unknowingly in visa scam.
“Some of those who deliberately patronise touts using fake travel documents to deceive visa issuing officials often travel out of the country to indulge in all forms of criminal activities which dent the image of our country.
“It is unfortunate that in spite of laws and sundry control mechanism put in place by government to curtail the activities of touts at embassies and airports, the sharp practices of obtaining visa illegally have persisted. It is in this regard that we commend the ICPC for sanitising the process which has led to the arrest and prosecution of suspects and their collaborators.”
