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My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia - Travel (3) - Nairaland

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Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by GRADEXP2(m): 4:23pm On Aug 11, 2019
Thanks OP for this; it is eye opening.
I arrived at Moshoeshoe International Airport Maseru, Lesotho in July 2019 from Lagos, enroute OR Thambo, Johannesburg.

I passed through immigration and my passport was stamped. The elderly Mosotho immigration officer joked with me and even asked if I would take him to Fela's shrine.

At the exit after immigration were police officers, who on sighting me, collected my passport and said since it is my first time in Lesotho, that they will have to profile me.

As we were making way upstairs to their office, my contact who has been waiting for me to come out saw me and was confused about why I was with the police officers.

So, she spoke to them in sesotho and they said what they are doing is for my security whilst in the kingdom of lesotho. My contact requested if she could go with us to their office upstairs and they agreed.

At their office, they made photocopy of my passport and requested for copy of my contact's means of identification.

She wrote her name on the photocopy of my passport and signed and we left the office without paying any money.

My worry is, if my contact wasnt there , I dont know what would have happened.

My one month stay in the mountain kingdom was very memorable and there is general peace in the kingdom.

I intend to do a travelogue on my experience, to include the highs and the lows in the kingdom, compared to the Nigerian experience.





chimauga:
MY ORDEAL AT SOEKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT JAKARTA, INDONESIA

There is this derisive impression about Nigerian passport holders in most of the International Airports in different parts of the world, especially in Indonesia. The Immigration officers molest, exploit and forcibly take huge amount of bribes from Nigerians and threaten deportation if one refuses to give in. This happens even when one has not committed any offence. They show no respect to one’s Status so far you are carrying Nigerian passport.

On the 17th June 2019, I was once again greeted with harassment by Indonesian Immigration officers. The ugly incidence spurred me to take up a fight against their intimidation of Nigerians. I know that what they are doing is a corrupt practice and we are their major victims. No matter how our country is, we do not deserve such discriminatory extortion.

So, on that day, I arrived Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia, in an Emirates Airline from Dubai (EK0356). On disembarking from the Aircraft, I was walking to the queue when an immigration officer halted me. He asked for my passport. As he saw a Nigerian passport, he took me to their office and handed my passport over to his colleague. I greeted the officer sitting down in the office. He ignored me. Three times I greeted so he could say what the problem was but he remained silent and kept deaf ears. So I stood waiting for him to break his silence. I was standing, waiting for what I do not know, for 30 minutes before he muttered any word. Finally, he asked of my hotel reservation, return ticket and my Visa receipt, which I presented all to him.

The next question was, "do you want to go into the country?"

I said "yes".

He replied, "Calculate the fare of a one-way ticket from Jakarta to Abuja and give it to me to permit you entry".

I pretended as if I didn't understand what he was saying. The next thing he did was to google the cost of a one-way ticket with his mobile phone and showed it to me that it was $1,200usd (N432,000). I kept silent, trying to make a sense out of his embarrassing demand. But he didn’t stop there. He threatened to deport me by making copies of my travel documents.

At this point, I remembered my sad experience on the 9th October 2018 on this same Airport for refusing to bribe an Immigration officer with $200usd which nearly lead to my deportation. On that fateful day, they had already handed me over to the security and airline staff, reconfirmed my return ticket, checked in my luggage for eventual deportation. Had it not been I was able to place a call to my visa sponsor who intervened immediately by calling the airport Immigration boss and pleaded on my behalf, I would have been deported for no reason and would have lost huge sum and time. To the glory of God, the deportation was reversed. Meanwhile, this is a country I have been traveling to for 12 years without any infraction of their laws in whatever way. I never overstayed my visit, never broke any law, never even accused of any offense. My only offense was carrying Nigerian passport.

With that bad experience, which I was not ready to have a repeat of, I decided to be soft to this one demanding I should bribe him with $1,200usd. He later came down to $500 (N180,000) after a prolonged pleading. I immediately gave him the money but copied his name and saved it in my phone.

On the 21st June 2019, I prepared petitions which I addressed to the following parastatals:
1. Kedutaan Besar Republik Federsi Nigeria (Ambassador, Embassy of Federal Republic of Nigeria)
2. Direktorat Jendral Imigrasi (Comptroller of Immigration)
3. Direktorat Saber Pungli (Anti-Financial Fraud)
4. Pengaddan Dugaan Pidana Korups (Anti-Corruption).

First, I visited the Nigerian Embassy, met with the Ambassador and handed over my petition to him. He summoned an emergency meeting with all the Embassy's senior staff. He appeared very impressive. He commended my courage and promised to follow it up.

I stepped out of the Embassy and moved to Indonesian Immigration headquarters. On my arrival at the Immigration, it was difficult to gain access to meet with the overall Boss, the Jendral (comptroller), but when I claimed to be a Nigerian diplomat, they let me in. They ran security checks on me, gave me a form to fill my purpose of visit. I filled "High Rate of Bribery and Corruption Scandal Going on at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta". This form must have caught the attention of the Immigration boss as he didn't hesitate to request for me.

I gave him my petition. He read but couldn't believe that such was going on in their Airport. I provided the name of the Staff, which I copied into my phone. He typed the name in an application in his Laptop and it displayed the photo image of the Immigration officer. I confirmed the picture was that of the man who collected bribe of $500usd from me. He thanked me for coming up with such information, which he said no one had ever brought to his desk. He made a promise that he would investigate the report and invite me for an update within 48 hours.

In less than 24 hours of my report, I was invited by the Immigration boss. Upon my arrival to his office, I was given a VIP treat. The Jendral, that is the Immigration boss, started with an apology on behalf of the entire Immigration and Indonesian government. He went further to tell me that the officer who extorted money from me accepted he did it, and implicated four other senior “intelligent” officers who were involved in the indecent act. He narrated that the five senior officers had been dismissed immediately, that their dismissal letter would be given to them at the end of our meeting.

A sealed envelope was handed over to me. Inside the envelope were an apology letter and a sum of $1,600usd. The Jendral did not know that the money enclosed in the envelope was above the amount they collected from me. He was so amazed when I told him the money was in excess of my money. He decided to confirm it himself and discovered that the corrupt officers at the Airport enclosed all the money they forcibly collected from Nigerians on board the Emirates Airline that conveyed me to Jakarta that day.

That was how I salvaged other Nigerians who arrived the Airport from that moment onwards. I was told Nigerian passport holders are now being attended to with full respect at the point of entry. The era of $500 to $1,000 bribe for nothing has been defeated.

Funny enough, the Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, who I first reported this case to, did absolutely nothing about it. He once told the Consular General, Emabassy of Nigeria, Indonesia, to inform me that they were still trying to get an appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia. Two months gone and they are still booking appointments. If I had waited for them, my money would have gone and our citizens visiting Indonesia for businesses would still be suffering intimidation and extortion. This is why nobody cared to report this crime to our Embassy because they all know that the report will be swept under the carpet.

In the photos are the petitions (with different addresses), Immigration form (Purpose of visit) and Immigration Letter of refund.

2 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Mizwisdom(f): 4:23pm On Aug 11, 2019
You've travelled for 12 years yet you feel it's possible for them to only single out Nigerians to exploit? I bet other black Africans are suffering the same faith.


Do be careful cause those dismissed officers might plan a reprisal against you.

3 Likes 1 Share

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by lexy2014: 4:25pm On Aug 11, 2019
Ishilove:
Beautiful story of courage. It's so sad that this can't happen in Nigeria because the people you are reporting to are even more corrupt than their subordinates.

Nigeria is irredeemable

U can c from d story that even d Nigerian ambassador to Indonesia was part of d reason law abiding Nigerian citizens were suffering at Indonesian airports

2 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Nobody: 4:25pm On Aug 11, 2019
AngelicBeing:
"I am pighting kwarraption and I will kwontinue to pight kwarraption through the EPCC, my administration is kwomitted to pighting kwarraption " grin

cheesy cheesy cheesy cheesy
Pls, don't bite your tongue bc of buhari cheesy cheesy cheesy

1 Like

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by wallezee: 4:26pm On Aug 11, 2019
chimauga:
MY ORDEAL AT SOEKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT JAKARTA, INDONESIA

There is this derisive impression about Nigerian passport holders in most of the International Airports in different parts of the world, especially in Indonesia. The Immigration officers molest, exploit and forcibly take huge amount of bribes from Nigerians and threaten deportation if one refuses to give in. This happens even when one has not committed any offence. They show no respect to one’s Status so far you are carrying Nigerian passport.

On the 17th June 2019, I was once again greeted with harassment by Indonesian Immigration officers. The ugly incidence spurred me to take up a fight against their intimidation of Nigerians. I know that what they are doing is a corrupt practice and we are their major victims. No matter how our country is, we do not deserve such discriminatory extortion.

So, on that day, I arrived Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia, in an Emirates Airline from Dubai (EK0356). On disembarking from the Aircraft, I was walking to the queue when an immigration officer halted me. He asked for my passport. As he saw a Nigerian passport, he took me to their office and handed my passport over to his colleague. I greeted the officer sitting down in the office. He ignored me. Three times I greeted so he could say what the problem was but he remained silent and kept deaf ears. So I stood waiting for him to break his silence. I was standing, waiting for what I do not know, for 30 minutes before he muttered any word. Finally, he asked of my hotel reservation, return ticket and my Visa receipt, which I presented all to him.

The next question was, "do you want to go into the country?"

I said "yes".

He replied, "Calculate the fare of a one-way ticket from Jakarta to Abuja and give it to me to permit you entry".

I pretended as if I didn't understand what he was saying. The next thing he did was to google the cost of a one-way ticket with his mobile phone and showed it to me that it was $1,200usd (N432,000). I kept silent, trying to make a sense out of his embarrassing demand. But he didn’t stop there. He threatened to deport me by making copies of my travel documents.

At this point, I remembered my sad experience on the 9th October 2018 on this same Airport for refusing to bribe an Immigration officer with $200usd which nearly lead to my deportation. On that fateful day, they had already handed me over to the security and airline staff, reconfirmed my return ticket, checked in my luggage for eventual deportation. Had it not been I was able to place a call to my visa sponsor who intervened immediately by calling the airport Immigration boss and pleaded on my behalf, I would have been deported for no reason and would have lost huge sum and time. To the glory of God, the deportation was reversed. Meanwhile, this is a country I have been traveling to for 12 years without any infraction of their laws in whatever way. I never overstayed my visit, never broke any law, never even accused of any offense. My only offense was carrying Nigerian passport.

With that bad experience, which I was not ready to have a repeat of, I decided to be soft to this one demanding I should bribe him with $1,200usd. He later came down to $500 (N180,000) after a prolonged pleading. I immediately gave him the money but copied his name and saved it in my phone.

On the 21st June 2019, I prepared petitions which I addressed to the following parastatals:
1. Kedutaan Besar Republik Federsi Nigeria (Ambassador, Embassy of Federal Republic of Nigeria)
2. Direktorat Jendral Imigrasi (Comptroller of Immigration)
3. Direktorat Saber Pungli (Anti-Financial Fraud)
4. Pengaddan Dugaan Pidana Korups (Anti-Corruption).

First, I visited the Nigerian Embassy, met with the Ambassador and handed over my petition to him. He summoned an emergency meeting with all the Embassy's senior staff. He appeared very impressive. He commended my courage and promised to follow it up.

I stepped out of the Embassy and moved to Indonesian Immigration headquarters. On my arrival at the Immigration, it was difficult to gain access to meet with the overall Boss, the Jendral (comptroller), but when I claimed to be a Nigerian diplomat, they let me in. They ran security checks on me, gave me a form to fill my purpose of visit. I filled "High Rate of Bribery and Corruption Scandal Going on at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta". This form must have caught the attention of the Immigration boss as he didn't hesitate to request for me.

I gave him my petition. He read but couldn't believe that such was going on in their Airport. I provided the name of the Staff, which I copied into my phone. He typed the name in an application in his Laptop and it displayed the photo image of the Immigration officer. I confirmed the picture was that of the man who collected bribe of $500usd from me. He thanked me for coming up with such information, which he said no one had ever brought to his desk. He made a promise that he would investigate the report and invite me for an update within 48 hours.

In less than 24 hours of my report, I was invited by the Immigration boss. Upon my arrival to his office, I was given a VIP treat. The Jendral, that is the Immigration boss, started with an apology on behalf of the entire Immigration and Indonesian government. He went further to tell me that the officer who extorted money from me accepted he did it, and implicated four other senior “intelligent” officers who were involved in the indecent act. He narrated that the five senior officers had been dismissed immediately, that their dismissal letter would be given to them at the end of our meeting.

A sealed envelope was handed over to me. Inside the envelope were an apology letter and a sum of $1,600usd. The Jendral did not know that the money enclosed in the envelope was above the amount they collected from me. He was so amazed when I told him the money was in excess of my money. He decided to confirm it himself and discovered that the corrupt officers at the Airport enclosed all the money they forcibly collected from Nigerians on board the Emirates Airline that conveyed me to Jakarta that day.

That was how I salvaged other Nigerians who arrived the Airport from that moment onwards. I was told Nigerian passport holders are now being attended to with full respect at the point of entry. The era of $500 to $1,000 bribe for nothing has been defeated.

Funny enough, the Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, who I first reported this case to, did absolutely nothing about it. He once told the Consular General, Emabassy of Nigeria, Indonesia, to inform me that they were still trying to get an appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia. Two months gone and they are still booking appointments. If I had waited for them, my money would have gone and our citizens visiting Indonesia for businesses would still be suffering intimidation and extortion. This is why nobody cared to report this crime to our Embassy because they all know that the report will be swept under the carpet.

In the photos are the petitions (with different addresses), Immigration form (Purpose of visit) and Immigration Letter of refund.

Be careful on any other trip to the country cause they might decide to plant narcotics on you.

3 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by blackboy(m): 4:29pm On Aug 11, 2019
Nigeria needs overhauling. Imagine the ambassador could not get himaelf or his subordinates to do what you did in a few days.
No wonder there is the need for Abike Dabiri when we have embassies.
God bless you OP, well done

2 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Nobody: 4:30pm On Aug 11, 2019
It's not a surprise.If an only if two sections in Nigeria will stop the below vices
419
Scam
Drug
Yahoo
Human trafficking
Prostitution

2 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by hucienda: 4:31pm On Aug 11, 2019
Sir

#Respect
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by miqos02(m): 4:32pm On Aug 11, 2019
mofedamijo:
Thanks for standing up brother, but you know who corrupted this immigration officers? your fellow Nigerian brothers started it, they did same in South Africa, India, Swaziland, Malaysia, we corrupted this people, but those of South Africa and Swaziland have stopped accepting brides, at least a large percent of them don't collect again.......our brothers taught them to collect bride, thats why they do it to other Nigerians, and this is facts.
please what's the motivation for going to Swaziland?

2 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by higgs: 4:36pm On Aug 11, 2019
You are a hero

1 Like

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by dalass(f): 4:38pm On Aug 11, 2019
chimauga:
MY ORDEAL AT SOEKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT JAKARTA, INDONESIA
.

Massive respect
We must be more like this.

Thanks a lot for your efforts in checkmating the discrimination against Nigerians in Indonesia.

Hope we can replicate this all over the world and make the Nigerian passport to be accorded the necessary respect.
Bless your heart grin

2 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Redman44(m): 4:38pm On Aug 11, 2019
Corruption is universal. So don't think any nation on earth is corruption-free. It is just that some of the advanced nations do it very intelligently. There are some very corrupt countries in Europe. And many corrupt nations in Asia. It is just that these countries have stiff punishments for corrupt people. Indonesia and Malaysia are battling with internal corruption, so you know. If you want to pass through the borders of Asian countries easily, just print the word 'PRESS' on a ID Card size piece of Paper, laminate it, put it in a card holder and wear it around your neck. Always let them see the ID when they are interviewing you. Tell them you are a freelance journalist for newspapers all over the world. You won't spend up to 10 minutes with any official and they will let you go quickly- as long as you are clean and prohibited goods have not been found in your luggage.

It has worked for me and some of my friends. Just be confident when they are talking to you. Have a great day.

10 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Jabioro: 4:39pm On Aug 11, 2019
You deserved my forty round hand of applause..you have done well.Our embassy attitude was not a surprise, that's our home training,we handle everything with levity.."I don't care atitude"...
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by CosmicPhoenix: 4:39pm On Aug 11, 2019
ask your foolish god why he got pained when adam and eve ate the apple,zombie grin

1StopRudeness:



E pain you as the guy call God into the matter abi..even the OP thank God....why the matter com Dey pain a cosmic random mistake like u Dey surprise me
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by mcdreeezy: 4:40pm On Aug 11, 2019
Kudos to you OP! I'm proud of you. smiley
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by dbanjj1629(m): 4:47pm On Aug 11, 2019
This is commendable. Thank you for this prompt action. God bless you.
chimauga:
MY ORDEAL AT SOEKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT JAKARTA, INDONESIA

There is this derisive impression about Nigerian passport holders in most of the International Airports in different parts of the world, especially in Indonesia. The Immigration officers molest, exploit and forcibly take huge amount of bribes from Nigerians and threaten deportation if one refuses to give in. This happens even when one has not committed any offence. They show no respect to one’s Status so far you are carrying Nigerian passport.

On the 17th June 2019, I was once again greeted with harassment by Indonesian Immigration officers. The ugly incidence spurred me to take up a fight against their intimidation of Nigerians. I know that what they are doing is a corrupt practice and we are their major victims. No matter how our country is, we do not deserve such discriminatory extortion.

So, on that day, I arrived Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia, in an Emirates Airline from Dubai (EK0356). On disembarking from the Aircraft, I was walking to the queue when an immigration officer halted me. He asked for my passport. As he saw a Nigerian passport, he took me to their office and handed my passport over to his colleague. I greeted the officer sitting down in the office. He ignored me. Three times I greeted so he could say what the problem was but he remained silent and kept deaf ears. So I stood waiting for him to break his silence. I was standing, waiting for what I do not know, for 30 minutes before he muttered any word. Finally, he asked of my hotel reservation, return ticket and my Visa receipt, which I presented all to him.

The next question was, "do you want to go into the country?"

I said "yes".

He replied, "Calculate the fare of a one-way ticket from Jakarta to Abuja and give it to me to permit you entry".

I pretended as if I didn't understand what he was saying. The next thing he did was to google the cost of a one-way ticket with his mobile phone and showed it to me that it was $1,200usd (N432,000). I kept silent, trying to make a sense out of his embarrassing demand. But he didn’t stop there. He threatened to deport me by making copies of my travel documents.

At this point, I remembered my sad experience on the 9th October 2018 on this same Airport for refusing to bribe an Immigration officer with $200usd which nearly lead to my deportation. On that fateful day, they had already handed me over to the security and airline staff, reconfirmed my return ticket, checked in my luggage for eventual deportation. Had it not been I was able to place a call to my visa sponsor who intervened immediately by calling the airport Immigration boss and pleaded on my behalf, I would have been deported for no reason and would have lost huge sum and time. To the glory of God, the deportation was reversed. Meanwhile, this is a country I have been traveling to for 12 years without any infraction of their laws in whatever way. I never overstayed my visit, never broke any law, never even accused of any offense. My only offense was carrying Nigerian passport.

With that bad experience, which I was not ready to have a repeat of, I decided to be soft to this one demanding I should bribe him with $1,200usd. He later came down to $500 (N180,000) after a prolonged pleading. I immediately gave him the money but copied his name and saved it in my phone.

On the 21st June 2019, I prepared petitions which I addressed to the following parastatals:
1. Kedutaan Besar Republik Federsi Nigeria (Ambassador, Embassy of Federal Republic of Nigeria)
2. Direktorat Jendral Imigrasi (Comptroller of Immigration)
3. Direktorat Saber Pungli (Anti-Financial Fraud)
4. Pengaddan Dugaan Pidana Korups (Anti-Corruption).

First, I visited the Nigerian Embassy, met with the Ambassador and handed over my petition to him. He summoned an emergency meeting with all the Embassy's senior staff. He appeared very impressive. He commended my courage and promised to follow it up.

I stepped out of the Embassy and moved to Indonesian Immigration headquarters. On my arrival at the Immigration, it was difficult to gain access to meet with the overall Boss, the Jendral (comptroller), but when I claimed to be a Nigerian diplomat, they let me in. They ran security checks on me, gave me a form to fill my purpose of visit. I filled "High Rate of Bribery and Corruption Scandal Going on at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta". This form must have caught the attention of the Immigration boss as he didn't hesitate to request for me.

I gave him my petition. He read but couldn't believe that such was going on in their Airport. I provided the name of the Staff, which I copied into my phone. He typed the name in an application in his Laptop and it displayed the photo image of the Immigration officer. I confirmed the picture was that of the man who collected bribe of $500usd from me. He thanked me for coming up with such information, which he said no one had ever brought to his desk. He made a promise that he would investigate the report and invite me for an update within 48 hours.

In less than 24 hours of my report, I was invited by the Immigration boss. Upon my arrival to his office, I was given a VIP treat. The Jendral, that is the Immigration boss, started with an apology on behalf of the entire Immigration and Indonesian government. He went further to tell me that the officer who extorted money from me accepted he did it, and implicated four other senior “intelligent” officers who were involved in the indecent act. He narrated that the five senior officers had been dismissed immediately, that their dismissal letter would be given to them at the end of our meeting.

A sealed envelope was handed over to me. Inside the envelope were an apology letter and a sum of $1,600usd. The Jendral did not know that the money enclosed in the envelope was above the amount they collected from me. He was so amazed when I told him the money was in excess of my money. He decided to confirm it himself and discovered that the corrupt officers at the Airport enclosed all the money they forcibly collected from Nigerians on board the Emirates Airline that conveyed me to Jakarta that day.

That was how I salvaged other Nigerians who arrived the Airport from that moment onwards. I was told Nigerian passport holders are now being attended to with full respect at the point of entry. The era of $500 to $1,000 bribe for nothing has been defeated.

Funny enough, the Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, who I first reported this case to, did absolutely nothing about it. He once told the Consular General, Emabassy of Nigeria, Indonesia, to inform me that they were still trying to get an appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia. Two months gone and they are still booking appointments. If I had waited for them, my money would have gone and our citizens visiting Indonesia for businesses would still be suffering intimidation and extortion. This is why nobody cared to report this crime to our Embassy because they all know that the report will be swept under the carpet.

In the photos are the petitions (with different addresses), Immigration form (Purpose of visit) and Immigration Letter of refund.

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Legendguru: 4:47pm On Aug 11, 2019
hmmm
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Ferdinandu(m): 4:47pm On Aug 11, 2019
chimauga:
MY ORDEAL AT SOEKARNO-HATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT JAKARTA, INDONESIA

There is this derisive impression about Nigerian passport holders in most of the International Airports in different parts of the world, especially in Indonesia. The Immigration officers molest, exploit and forcibly take huge amount of bribes from Nigerians and threaten deportation if one refuses to give in. This happens even when one has not committed any offence. They show no respect to one’s Status so far you are carrying Nigerian passport.

On the 17th June 2019, I was once again greeted with harassment by Indonesian Immigration officers. The ugly incidence spurred me to take up a fight against their intimidation of Nigerians. I know that what they are doing is a corrupt practice and we are their major victims. No matter how our country is, we do not deserve such discriminatory extortion.

So, on that day, I arrived Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia, in an Emirates Airline from Dubai (EK0356). On disembarking from the Aircraft, I was walking to the queue when an immigration officer halted me. He asked for my passport. As he saw a Nigerian passport, he took me to their office and handed my passport over to his colleague. I greeted the officer sitting down in the office. He ignored me. Three times I greeted so he could say what the problem was but he remained silent and kept deaf ears. So I stood waiting for him to break his silence. I was standing, waiting for what I do not know, for 30 minutes before he muttered any word. Finally, he asked of my hotel reservation, return ticket and my Visa receipt, which I presented all to him.

The next question was, "do you want to go into the country?"

I said "yes".

He replied, "Calculate the fare of a one-way ticket from Jakarta to Abuja and give it to me to permit you entry".

I pretended as if I didn't understand what he was saying. The next thing he did was to google the cost of a one-way ticket with his mobile phone and showed it to me that it was $1,200usd (N432,000). I kept silent, trying to make a sense out of his embarrassing demand. But he didn’t stop there. He threatened to deport me by making copies of my travel documents.

At this point, I remembered my sad experience on the 9th October 2018 on this same Airport for refusing to bribe an Immigration officer with $200usd which nearly lead to my deportation. On that fateful day, they had already handed me over to the security and airline staff, reconfirmed my return ticket, checked in my luggage for eventual deportation. Had it not been I was able to place a call to my visa sponsor who intervened immediately by calling the airport Immigration boss and pleaded on my behalf, I would have been deported for no reason and would have lost huge sum and time. To the glory of God, the deportation was reversed. Meanwhile, this is a country I have been traveling to for 12 years without any infraction of their laws in whatever way. I never overstayed my visit, never broke any law, never even accused of any offense. My only offense was carrying Nigerian passport.

With that bad experience, which I was not ready to have a repeat of, I decided to be soft to this one demanding I should bribe him with $1,200usd. He later came down to $500 (N180,000) after a prolonged pleading. I immediately gave him the money but copied his name and saved it in my phone.

On the 21st June 2019, I prepared petitions which I addressed to the following parastatals:
1. Kedutaan Besar Republik Federsi Nigeria (Ambassador, Embassy of Federal Republic of Nigeria)
2. Direktorat Jendral Imigrasi (Comptroller of Immigration)
3. Direktorat Saber Pungli (Anti-Financial Fraud)
4. Pengaddan Dugaan Pidana Korups (Anti-Corruption).

First, I visited the Nigerian Embassy, met with the Ambassador and handed over my petition to him. He summoned an emergency meeting with all the Embassy's senior staff. He appeared very impressive. He commended my courage and promised to follow it up.

I stepped out of the Embassy and moved to Indonesian Immigration headquarters. On my arrival at the Immigration, it was difficult to gain access to meet with the overall Boss, the Jendral (comptroller), but when I claimed to be a Nigerian diplomat, they let me in. They ran security checks on me, gave me a form to fill my purpose of visit. I filled "High Rate of Bribery and Corruption Scandal Going on at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta". This form must have caught the attention of the Immigration boss as he didn't hesitate to request for me.

I gave him my petition. He read but couldn't believe that such was going on in their Airport. I provided the name of the Staff, which I copied into my phone. He typed the name in an application in his Laptop and it displayed the photo image of the Immigration officer. I confirmed the picture was that of the man who collected bribe of $500usd from me. He thanked me for coming up with such information, which he said no one had ever brought to his desk. He made a promise that he would investigate the report and invite me for an update within 48 hours.

In less than 24 hours of my report, I was invited by the Immigration boss. Upon my arrival to his office, I was given a VIP treat. The Jendral, that is the Immigration boss, started with an apology on behalf of the entire Immigration and Indonesian government. He went further to tell me that the officer who extorted money from me accepted he did it, and implicated four other senior “intelligent” officers who were involved in the indecent act. He narrated that the five senior officers had been dismissed immediately, that their dismissal letter would be given to them at the end of our meeting.

A sealed envelope was handed over to me. Inside the envelope were an apology letter and a sum of $1,600usd. The Jendral did not know that the money enclosed in the envelope was above the amount they collected from me. He was so amazed when I told him the money was in excess of my money. He decided to confirm it himself and discovered that the corrupt officers at the Airport enclosed all the money they forcibly collected from Nigerians on board the Emirates Airline that conveyed me to Jakarta that day.

That was how I salvaged other Nigerians who arrived the Airport from that moment onwards. I was told Nigerian passport holders are now being attended to with full respect at the point of entry. The era of $500 to $1,000 bribe for nothing has been defeated.

Funny enough, the Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia, who I first reported this case to, did absolutely nothing about it. He once told the Consular General, Emabassy of Nigeria, Indonesia, to inform me that they were still trying to get an appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia. Two months gone and they are still booking appointments. If I had waited for them, my money would have gone and our citizens visiting Indonesia for businesses would still be suffering intimidation and extortion. This is why nobody cared to report this crime to our Embassy because they all know that the report will be swept under the carpet.

In the photos are the petitions (with different addresses), Immigration form (Purpose of visit) and Immigration Letter of refund.

Kudos the Chairman. We are recommending you to Buhari to take over the office of SSA on diaspora affairs because Abike Dabiri is becoming a failure in that post. Buhari can use her for tribalistic affairs.

2 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by ntyce(m): 4:48pm On Aug 11, 2019
I can bet the $1,200 in the envelope was a bait.
If you had taken everything, you would have been arrested and charged to court.

7 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by DeZoro(m): 4:50pm On Aug 11, 2019
Brave you brother..... Thanks you for the boldness
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by obinoral1179(m): 4:52pm On Aug 11, 2019
Nice one bro.... God will continuing blessings your Hustle
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Emmahunk(m): 4:52pm On Aug 11, 2019
When you are a Nigerian totally and fully legit, you can always hold your head high anywhere.
Thanks bro, you should be honored.
The Nigeria ambassador in that Country should be queried about this.

3 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by yakbauer: 4:52pm On Aug 11, 2019
God Bless you, your tenacity and perseverance to see this to the end.
This story melted my heart, I'm very happy it had a happy ending

1 Like

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Nobody: 5:00pm On Aug 11, 2019
CosmicPhoenix:
ask your foolish god why he got pained when adam and eve ate the apple,zombie grin


Oh!!!!U misinterpreted my comment... I ddnt mean to insult you..my apologies if it came out wrongly...I’ve got lots of atheist friends.. they gladly accept their lives are just random cosmic mistake that amount to nothing..I tot that tag is widely accepted across board...my bad
Still I dont get why ur stomach turns just cos someone said thank God...the thread initiator too is a believer of God and he thanked God thru his entire text ... clearly u don’t have a dog in this fight..I’m just saying.....

5 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Redman44(m): 5:07pm On Aug 11, 2019
ntyce:
I can bet the $1,200 in the envelope was a bait.
If you had taken everything, you would have been arrested and charged to court.


Exactly. They set a trap for the OP to see if he was a truly honest person as he painted himself to be. This is why it is good to be honest and accountable. By not accepting the $ 1, 200 as his own, he removed all doubts about his credibility and established his case strongly. I am happy that we have Nigerians who still have the fear of God in their heart. Kudos, OP.

10 Likes

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by andrew444(m): 5:15pm On Aug 11, 2019
Me that i was passing through bangkok to Kuala lumpur some years back, they where counting my BTA as if its their country i am traveling to, i was lucky i am having $2000 at least

I still paid an immigration officer $400 at kuala lumpur airport
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by andrew444(m): 5:18pm On Aug 11, 2019
mofedamijo:
Thanks for standing up brother, but you know who corrupted this immigration officers? your fellow Nigerian brothers started it, they did same in South Africa, India, Swaziland, Malaysia, we corrupted this people, but those of South Africa and Swaziland have stopped accepting brides, at least a large percent of them don't collect again.......our brothers taught them to collect bride, thats why they do it to other Nigerians, and this is facts.

You even know better self

Our brother taught them

Agreed with all what you said there.

1 Like

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Okoroawusa: 5:21pm On Aug 11, 2019
The Green passport will be great again

1 Like

Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by Okoroawusa: 5:23pm On Aug 11, 2019
browse334:
Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!
Accept Jesus today that He is very near to you
Tomorrow may be too late!!!
Bia nwokem,okwu immigration na passport ka anyi n'ako here!!!
Re: My Ordeal At Soekarno-hatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia by banio: 5:24pm On Aug 11, 2019
There is no place like home. Home sweet home. When I go foreign land, I will always think of home.

3 Likes

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