Italian embassy Lagos worse-hit with fake documents -police

The Italian Embassy Lagos is the worst hit with fake documents in Nigeria following a recent disclosure by the Police Special Fraud Unit on Sunday. According to the police spokesman, ASP Lawal Audu, an average of 50 Nigerian passports with fake documents is sent to the SFU monthly.

The police chief hinted that Canada was the target before now but attention had now shifted to the European nation's embassy in Lagos.

The Italian Embassy sent to SFU about 50 Nigerian Passports monthly with complaints of forged documents.

 ‘‘We have charged more than 15 persons to court for presenting fake document between January and May, 2017.

“Documents the applicants always forged include bank statements, health insurance certificates, invitation letters from Italy, letters of introduction and letter of employment from multinational companies.

 “Italian Consulate normally checks all supporting document for any applicant. They are very meticulous in checking. “We have many passports with such complaints in large numbers.

 “Once any embassy or high commission discovers irregularities in any application, they request the applicant to come to SFU for clearance; many never came to us.

 ‘‘After waiting for some time, we go out to look for such applicants.

 “Many of the applicants used fake names and addresses. Even their mobile phone numbers are with fake names and addresses. Some phone numbers have baby’s names for registration,” Audu noted.

Seven Burkinabe players refused UK visas for Nigeria friendly in London

Seven Burkinabe players failed to secure British visas ahead of an international friendly with Nigeria. the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced the development on Saturday.

As a result Nigeria's friendly against Burkina Faso in north London next week is cancelled because of the visa issues affecting travelling players.

The Super Eagles were using the match as part of preparations for their remaining qualifiers for the World Cup 2018 and Africa Cup of Nations 2019.
NFF official Chris Green said the cancellation was "no fault of either the organisers or the Nigeria Football Federation".

"We will announce further plans for the Super Eagles' preparation for these two important qualifying campaigns in due course," he added.

Burkina Faso officials were told of the visa issues late on Friday.

On Thursday, Nigeria drew 1-1 with Senegal in the first of its two scheduled friendly matches in the British capital.

Morocco beat Burkina 2-0 in a friendly in Marrakech on Friday.

100,000 Nigerians apply for US visa weekly

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence McCulley recently said over over 100,000 Nigerians apply weekly to visit the United States for various reasons resulting in a backlog of visa applications.

He said the US mission was open to discussions with the Nigerian government on whether or not to extend the validity of the visa. He also said that the embassy was working assiduously to finish up the accumulated backlog of applications which it already has.

The US ambassador has also assured that Nigerians who apply for visas would be treated with dignity and respect and there would be no unnecessary delays. And when in some cases, the visas are denied, it would be done in a dignified manner so that there would be no hard feelings on both sides.

Canadian Immigration apologises to Nigerian couple

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is apologizing to a Nigerian couple who have been kept apart for nearly two years because the Canadian federal government made a series of costly mistakes while processing their visa application.

“We just wanted to have the opportunity to apologize profusely for the multiple errors that have occurred in the processing of this file and for the distress and expense that has caused both of them,” departmental spokeswoman Nancy Caron said on Friday evening.

With the pains of separation and distance killing the marriage, Gideon Christian, 36, was ready to give up on his doctoral studies in law at the University of Ottawa to return to Nigeria and be with his wife after he was repeatedly frustrated in his attempts to bring her to Canada.

Christian married Isabella Chinelo Ekpunobi, 25, also a lawyer, in September 2009. Shortly after the wedding he returned to Ottawa, where the permanent resident filed a sponsorship application so his bride could join him.

They soon received confirmation the visa was being processed at the Canadian High Commission in Accra, Ghana, but nearly a year later, they received a strange request in the mail from the Canadian embassy in Paris asking Ekpunobi to undergo another medical examination — and complete an alcoholism screening test.

“The questions were so strange, because my wife doesn't even drink,” said Christian.

When the office of Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger (Ottawa–Vanier) contacted Citizenship and Immigration on their behalf to find out what was going on, he was told the medical exam was a must.

Last December, they received another letter asking for yet another medical examination, even though by this time Christian had learned through an Access-to-Information request that the initial request had been sent in error.

On February 10, Ekpunobi got an email from the High Commission in Accra telling her the visa was ready for pickup. The couple arrived in Accra the night of Feb. 27 and hurried to the immigration office the next morning, but the visa was not ready. The two emails and letter had been sent in error. They needed another medical test.

Christian is not holding his breath for a resolution.

“I don't believe things are over yet until we have the visa,” Christian said.