How desperate Nigerians are dupe by travel agents

Johnson

Some Nigerians who were desperate to travel out of the country, in search of greener pastures have recounted how their travel agent, one Chief Obi Johnson, vaccinated them in his house as he prepared their documents and later milked them dry.

Also fingered in the dirty scam, is an elusive Department of State Services (DSS) official.

The victims did not know the DSS official for sure, but the prime suspect, Johnson, whom they all fingered, said that he could not have facilitated the deal without the help of the DSS agent, whom he named simply as Uwakwe.

The victims

Some of the victims have been identified as Chima Ogbonna, 23, Joseph Onyebuchi 42, Ambrose Emezi 38, Chiemele Gift 29 and Udemba Ifeanyi 38.

The victims’ quest for a new start in a new country, did not only land them in a foreign land, but also got them beaten black and blue and deported over peddling of fake dollars.

One of the victims, Ogbonna, recollected how Johnson invited them to his house for the international vaccination which ought to have taken place at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

His words: “Johnson invited four of us to his house, where we were vaccinated for yellow card. We each paid N15, 000. On the day we were leaving for the airport, he said we should go with 1, 000 dollars. He also gave us phone number of one Mr. Mike. He said that once we got there, we should call the Mike at the airport to meet us.

“Mike is supposed to be the company’s official who would show us where to work. Mike sent a taxi to pick and took us to his house. We paid the taxi. Mike now said we should pay him 200 dollars a month for accommodation or we could go and stay at a hotel. He said there was no job available. He said that if we wanted a job, we should pay him to assist us search for job. According to him, he needed to turn our tourist visa to working visa. We paid him 2000 Diram each, equivalent to N 90, 000.00.  In the morning, he said the money we paid him in dollar were fake. We were surprised. It was Johnson who gave us those money. Mike and some men started beating us.”

Making reference to the elusive Uwakwe, John said: “I didn’t do the job alone. I did it with some other persons. They’re Uwakwe, Ken and Chidozie. Uwakwe is an SSS man. The three of them assisted me to procure all the documents. All the transactions were made through me because I was the person who dealt directly with the complainants.”

Johnson became a guest at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command after one of his victims petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti.

The petitioner, Onyebuchi, alleged that Johnson defrauded him and several others under the guise that he would provide them travelling documents and work permits to various countries of their choices.

The petitioner alleged that Johnson collected N3 million from him to procure documents for his travel to Spain. For reasons he later could not comprehend, Johnson renege on the Spain deal. He came up with another plan for Onyebuchi to travel to Dubai.

Not ready to lose out on Spain and Dubai, Onyebuchi grudgingly accepted after Johnson promised that he would also connect him to a waiting job and accommodation. When he got to Dubai, he saw hell and realised he had been duped.

When Aderanti got the petition, he instructed the Officer-in Charge of SARS, Mr. Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP) to investigate the matter. Johnson was arrested in his home at Agboju, on   February 3, 2015.
It was gathered that immediately the news break that Johnson had been arrested, several victims besieged SARS’s office.

A police source said: “When Johnson's house was searched, some fake travelling documents were found. Five more victims had also emerged, saying they paid to the suspect, but he did not delivered as promised. When they heard he was arrested, they rushed to the station. Many of them said they had made unsuccessful efforts to reach Johnson after they were swindled.”

The police noted that the suspect did not deny knowing the victims. “But the suspect said that the money the victims alleged he collected from them were not up to the amount,” said the police.

According to the police, preliminary investigation showed that Johnson does not belong to any travelling agency.

“He was out to dupe unsuspecting Nigerians,” said the police. “Investigation also revealed that he had been in the business for a long time. He had been collaborating with some people in Nigeria, Ghana and Dubai. When the victims got to their destinations, the tourist visas, in no time, would expire. The victims would be deported as against the agreement for a resident and work permit assured them by Johnson.”

Stating his own side of the story, Johnson, a self- acclaimed businessman said he was into selling of property and had been into it for over 20 years.

He said: “I was arrested because of visa and travelling business and threat to life. I prepared travel document to Dubai for Chima Ogbonna and Joseph Onyebuchi. They travelled with the visa I gave to them, stayed for two months and came back. They couldn’t get a job with the visa. They paid me N450, 000 and N300, 000. The agreement was that I’ll provide them work permits in Dubai."
Johnson said he didn’t provide the work permits, “because Mr. Uwakwe and Ken who assisted me in providing documents for the complainants gave them the contact of one Mike in Dubai. Uwakwe and Ken said they would handle the job of procuring work permits. I’ve never sent anyone to Dubai since I started doing this business. They were the first set of people.”

He explained that he had sent people to Qatar and had never experienced any problem. Indeed, Johnson said he had successfully sent four people to Qatar in 2013. But Uwakwe, Ken and Dozie talked him into sending some of his clients to Dubai.

He intoned: “I’ve sent four people to Qatar in 2013 and they are still there. I entered into this business when I was trying to send seven of my siblings out of the country. I paid the supposed agent 7, 500 dollars for my siblings to travel to Croatia. But till date, my siblings had not travelled. The man duped me.”

Johnson who accepted he collected money from four people, added: “I collected N4, 500, 000.00, N3, 500, 000, N100, 000 and N400, 000 from them respectively.”

The suspect said he was shocked when one of the people he took money from, Gift, travelled to Kuwait, but was deported. “Gift was the guy who paid me N350, 000. I took him to the airport myself. I was surprised he was deported.”

He noted that the case of Oyibo, a victim, was peculiar. He said he got Kuwait Visa for Oyibo, but the man said he did not have money to travel at that precise time.
Johnson said: “The people who helped me to procure the documents said they would not refund.”

Asked if he could assist the police in catching Uwakwe, Ken and Dozie, Johnson said: “Ken is in Port Harcourt, Dozie is in Ghana and Uwakwe is here in Lagos, I’m ready to help the police to catch them."
Ogbonna said that he was not new to travelling overseas, but only wanted to change the country he resided. He however never bargained he would fall into the hands of suspected fraudsters.

 “I started travelling in 2011, but I started living permanently in South Africa since February 2013. My father died and I came back to Nigeria and decided to change base. My brother Chimezie introduced me to Johnson. He said he could procure European Visa. He charged me N700, 000. I made part payment of N300, 000. My plan was to reside in Latvia.”

He said that he paid the money in October 2013, but got tired of waiting for the visa to materialise. In fact, four months later, Johnson told him that he could not get his Europe Visa, but Dubai.

Trying to convince Ogbonna to settle for Dubai, Johnson threw in what he thought was the icing on the cake. He promised that he would provide work permit and accommodation.

Ogbonna recalled: “He asked me to pay additional N100, 000 which I did. After one month, he called and gave me a tourist visa. I rejected it. It was not what we bargained. He said that the company was already waiting for me to come and start work on Monday. He collected another N150, 000 from me for ticket and gave me promo ticket which would last for only one week.”

When he got to Dubai with three other men, they connected to a man called Mike, whom Johnson had linked them to, painting him as their messiah in a foreign land. Mike turned out to be the devil, ready to also milk them of their money. He not only accused them of bringing fake money into Dubai, he also called men to beat them up.
Ogbonna said that Mike alerted 10 men to swoop on them. Their international passports were seized and their money taken.

“Mike threatened us that the authority in Dubai would jail us if they discovered we came into their country with fake currency.”

They explained that it was Johnson who gave them the fake dollars. Mike calmed down. When the tourist visa expired, the men once again paid Mike N50, 000 to extend it, so that they could see if they could get an employment.

Ogbonna noted that most of the money he started spending after a month in Dubai, were sent to him by his family members.

Sighing sorrowfully, Ogbonna said: “At the end, I had to buy one way ticket and returned to Nigeria. The one month promo ticket Johnson bought for us had expired. We later discovered that the promo ticket was N70, 000, but he collected N150, 000 from us. Johnson promised to refund us our money, but till date, he hadn’t!”

Onyebuchi, a commercial driver said he decided to petition the police after it dawned on him that the suspect was not ready to refund his money.

Onyebuchi said: “Johnson promised to get me a visa to Spain. I paid him N3 million. My sister-in-law was the person who sent the money to me from Asaba in 2013. I paid him in April 2013, but throughout that year, I didn’t travel because he was delaying the traveling. In 2014, I received a call from him that he had obtained working visa for me with accommodation, transportation and feeding. He said the company where I would work would pay me 2,500 dollars per month, which was about N400, 000. I felt it was more than what I was getting in Nigeria.”

According to Onyebuchi, while the travelling documents were being prepared, Johnson invited him to his home. “He gave me a tourist visa and told me to prepare that I would be travelling in two days’ time. He said the company over there was waiting for me to begin work. He conducted vaccination for yellow fever card in his house for N15, 000 and did driver’s license for me for N15, 000.  After the vaccination, I fainted.”

Just like Ogbonna, Onyebuchi was beaten black and blue by Mike’s boys when he got to Dubai over fake dollars.

While he was being beaten, Onyebuchi said that he cried and shouted that it was Johnson who gave him the fake dollar. Mike replied: “Didn’t you know that Johnson is a fraudster?”

When Onyebuchi returned to Nigeria, he took his family to Johnson’s home. “Johnson promised to refund my money, but didn’t. I had to petition the Commissioner of Police. One day while I was going to Johnson’s house with my wife, an unknown number called me. The caller said that Johnson discussed with him to kill me.”

The third victim, Emezi, a plumber said he fell into Johnson’s net after he worked for the suspect by laying tiles in his home for him.

After working for Johnson, Emezi requested for his payment. But rather than pay, Johnson told him that a man with his experience in laying of tiles were desperately needed in Qatar. He asked Emezi to cough up N700, 000 for his travel, that he would make it possible for him to go to Qatar. Believing his luck was about to change for good, Emezi agreed.

He said: “Johnson said I should pay him N700, 000 to secure work permit for me. I paid him first N100, 000 in July 23, 2013.  I paid him through Eco Bank. He gave me a fake visa to Latvia, Europe. I went to the embassy to confirm. I was told it was fake. He owed me N125, 000 for the job I did for him. He said it would be deducted from the money for travelling documents. I didn’t travel again because the visa was a fake.”

Johnson soon convinced Emezi to attempt going to Kuwait. Emezi accepted.

“He said my visa would be ready by the following week. He said I should come to his house for vaccination for yellow fever card. He charged N15, 000 and I paid advance N10, 000, but till now, I’ve not collected the yellow card. He said I should balance him N5, 000 before I collected it.”

Sadly, the Kuwait Visa also turned out to be a fake. Sick and tired of Johnson’s game, Emezi asked him to refund his money. But the suspect didn’t. Rather, he took Emezi to Iyana-Ipaja and showed him two plots of land. “Johnson said that he wanted to sell the land to refund my money. He said he would sell for N20million to balance everybody.”
Gift said he paid Johnson N350, 000 to process a visa to Europe for him, but the suspect rather got him a Kuwait Visa.

Gift rejected it. “I refused to travel after seeing what had happened to others. Johnson insisted I should travel, that their case were different from mine. He said mine was direct from a company and that he already had an employment visa for me.

“He bought the ticket and said if it was employment visa that I would have to refund the ticket money with an interest of 800 dollars. On getting to Kuwait, the visa was confirmed at airport by the Kuwait Immigration to be a fake. I was detained by the immigration and later deported to Nigeria the following day. I was detained by Nigeria Immigration and I paid 200 Dollars to be released.”

The Lagos State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu confirmed the arrest of Johnson. He said that the police had completed investigation into the matter; adding that the suspect had been charged to court.