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Abdulazeez Abubakar
1 month ago
Overview
Nigerians in UK protest visa scams, call out 30 suspects
Nigerians living in the United Kingdom have protested against rising cases of certificate of sponsorship scams in the country.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that some UK-based Nigerians assembled on Marsham Street in London to participate in the protest on Thursday.
A live video on TikTok seen by our correspondents showed a woman, Christiana Olabisi, aka Ferrari, with a megaphone, as she called on victims of the scams to join in the demonstration.
She said, “No more scamming. Enough is enough. Whether you like it or not, all of you are going to get reported.
“We are here waiting for you, for those of you still wanting to join the protest, we are waiting for you. Don’t let anybody scare you. This is a country where you can speak up. Don’t let anyone scare you with deportation. If anyone has collected money from you, this is the time to speak up. Tomorrow may be too late.
“We have a lot of people making others cry in this country. A group of people collecting huge sums of money from the newcomers; we are here to inform the Home Office about what is going on in this country. They don’t even know the huge sums being collected. We are going to expose you,”
According to an e-flier circulated on X last week, which was turned into a banner on the protest ground, 30 suspects were identified with their photos.
The flier, titled, ‘Say No To UK CoS Scam’ read, ‘Faces of people scamming people with thousands of pounds for CoS in the UK.’
Speaking with our correspondent, Olabisi said there were about 10 people at the protest, which was held in front of the UK Home Office.
“One of the officials later addressed us that we should write a formal letter for the Home Office to address our grievances,” she added.
Victims share ordeals
Certificate of Sponsorship is a visa scheme designed for licensed organisations by the UK government to enable them to hire overseas workers, who they bring into the European country. CoS is supposed to be free.
Overseas workers can only make valid visa applications from their countries if they have the backing of such licensed companies, who are also called sponsors.
Many desperate foreign workers looking for such visas have, however, fallen victim to fraudulent agents and companies who demand huge sums of money in return for the favour.
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