Akiolu condemns £3,000 British visa bond

[Punch]

The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, on Monday condemned the proposed £3,000 British visa deposit imposed on Nigerian travellers.

Akiolu said this at the opening of a five-day workshop on corporate fraud organised by the police Special Fraud Unit in collaboration with the City of London Police in Lagos, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

"It is unacceptable to us as a nation; we will not take it. It is a big insult to us for British to demand £3,000 before we can go to London. We are not criminals,'' he said.

The monarch stressed the need for the government to release the reports of some major probes into corruption, including the Halliburton scam.

Declaring the workshop open, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said lack of strict enforcement of the law against corruption was responsible for its growing in Nigeria.

Ekweremadu noted that only the poor were found in the Nigeria's prison, while the rich bailed themselves to enjoy their loots.

He described corruption as a threat to humanity, stressing that the major effect of it was the introduction of wrong values, where some people believed in overnight wealth.

"Wrong values are what corruption breeds. It encourages overnight millionaire, suggesting that hard work doesn't pay. Some people are encouraging corruption in the society by giving chieftaincy titles and honour in churches to corrupt persons,'' he noted.

The senator said for corruption to be checked, there should be creation of job opportunities, good business environment for big and small businesses to thrive, provision of electricity and ICT device for crime detection.

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, who was represented by DIG Peter Gana, described corporate fraud as a difficult crime to prevent.

The commissioner in charge of SFU, Tunde Ogunsakin, said the workshop was an annual event by the unit with the theme, 'Corporate Fraud: Insider Abuse in Financial Institution and the Implication on Developing Economy'.

Ogunsaskin said the workshop was a follow-up to the last edition in 2012, expressing the hope that it would create a format for crime prevention and control in banks and other financial institutions.

The British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Peter Cater, said the £3,000 visa issue was a pilot scheme by his country, stressing that Nigeria might not be part of the country affected by the policy.

"If Nigeria is involved, it will be just few individuals we regard as highest risk that would pay the money. There is no final decision yet on the matter," he said.

The Punch