Sunday, January 16, 2011

Desperation for Canada lands man in trouble

TOYOSI OGUNSEYE

His quest to relocate abroad and drop the shackles of poverty pushed him to the extreme of desperation. Rasheed Adekola was arrested on Tuesday at the Canadian embassy for submitting 17 fake documents in order to obtain a student visa to Canada, TOYOSI OGUNSEYE reports.


Adekola and some of the fake documents



ONE, two, three, four, five, 17! That was the number of forged documents submitted by Rasheed Adekola at the Canadian Embassy in Lagos in order to obtain a student visa.

That was not his first time. Adekola started applying for the visa in 2009 and had applied four times. Each time he submitted his application materials and was denied, he always returned with more documents to convince the officials at the visa section that he was worthy of it.

It wasn't as if the officials at the embassy were ignorant of Adekola's antics from the beginning. In fact, they knew the documents he submitted during his first application were not genuine but they decided to ignore him hoping that he would stop.

A source at the embassy who did not want his name mentioned said that when the embassy gets fake documents, they deny the applicant visa hoping that the person will not bother applying again. "It usually works because they spend a lot of money obtaining the documents and they are usually not eager to spend that amount of money when we turn down their request," he said.

Adekola was however different. He refused to give up and his application soon became a regular one at the embassy. After he applied the fourth time, officials at the embassy decided that they had had enough of him.

What piqued them the most was that Adekola submitted a certificate of scholarship from the Kano State government. The purported certificate from the Kano government read that Adekola had been given scholarship worth over $80,000 to study business administration at the Acadia University, Canada.

So, they invited him for an interview. When Adekola got the letter of interview from the embassy, he was very excited; that was the first time he was getting a 'positive' response from the embassy.

He couldn't wait to visit the embassy on the appointment day which was last Tuesday. He appeared in his best attire and answered all the questions he was asked with confidence.

The interview however turned sour after the interviewer accused 28-year-old Adekola of submitting fake documents. Initially, he denied the allegation vehemently; unknown to him that the embassy had alerted the police to arrest him.

While he was still denying the allegation, a policeman from the Special Fraud Unit, Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos, stepped into the interviewing room and arrested Adekola.

The 17 documents submitted by the suspect included a diploma certificate from the National Centre for Economic Management and Administration, a certificate of achievement from KarRox for successfully completing Oracle 10g, a first school leaving certificate from the Lagos State government, a school leaving certificate and testimonial from Abibat Mogaji Millennium Senior Secondary School.

Other data submitted by him were a birth certificate from Mushin local government, notification of result from the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, a scholarship certificate from the Kano State government, a desktop publishing certificate from Omega computer village and identity cards from Federal polytechnic, Ilaro and NCEMA.

Adekola however told SUNDAY PUNCH that not all the documents were forged. According to him, it was one Ibrahim Ogundele that offered to obtain the documents for him at no cost until he received the visa.

He said, "I finished secondary school in 2004 and I have been trying to gain admission into the university since then. In 2006, the Lagos State University offered me admission to study business administration but I did not have money to pay my school fees so I let it go."

Adekola, who lives with his elder brother and does menial jobs said that Ogundele, offered to assist him to seek for greener pastures outside the country. He said, "Ogundele is like a big brother in our neighbourhood at Shasha. He told me that he has been assisting people to get visas and I decided to try my luck too. Even though he said that he would do it for free, I used to give him money occasionally. From 2009 to date, I have given him N55, 000."

Adekola further said that he did not know that Ogundele gave him forged papers, "That was why I had the confidence to go to the embassy for the interview. If I knew that they were not genuine, I would not have appeared. When Ogundele said that he was going to help me, I did not know that he would offer me forged documents."

The suspect stated that only his secondary school and computer skills certificates were genuine. He said, "Ogundele said I should give him all the documents I have because he would need them to procure other documents. I even told him that I was going to the West African Examinations Council to collect my original certificate but he offered to go for me. Unknown to me, what he got for me was not genuine."

Other documents Ogundele allegedly gave Adekola were a Will that was purportedly written by Adekola's late father giving the suspect two choice properties in Lagos, a Toyota jeep and Harvestfield Industries Ltd; forged shares certificates from Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and Oando Plc; forged Lagos state certificates of occupancy, among others.

Adekola, however, told our correspondent that his late father did not bequeath him with any of such properties and that everything was a figment of Ogundele's imagination.

Adekola will soon be charged to court and made to face the consequences of his actions alone as Ogundele relocated to the United Kingdom last September.

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/jan/16/807.html

Adekola and some of the fake documents (photo)
http://odili.net/news/source/2011/jan/16/punch/images/pix201101160285087%5B1%5D.jpg[s][/s]

Enjoy:

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2010/07/20/fake-doctor-arrested-with-cocaine/

Men, see craze