No fewer than 1,000 Nigerians are stranded in the United Kingdom (UK) having been lured to the European nation with bogus employment letters, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said.
IOM’s Chief of Mission, Mr. Laurent De Boeck disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.
He confirmed the existence of a syndicate that specialises in offering fake employment letters to Nigerians seeking to work in the UK.
According to Boeck, over 1,000 Nigerians got visas based on fake employment letters procured for them by this syndicate, only to get to the respective organisations in the UK and be denied acceptance because the letters did not emanate from those organisations.
The IOM chief said some of the victims lost as much as $10,000 each, in their desperate attempts to secure foreign jobs.
“There are some of them who lost over $10,000 only to be given fake employment letters which allowed them to get visas. They get there, present the letters and the organisations would tell them that the letters did not emanate from the organisations. Over a thousand people are affected,” De Boeck said.
He urged prospective travellers and foreign job applicants to seek proper information before embarking on any migration, noting that more than 260,000 Nigerians approached IOM in 2023 to seek guidance on how to migrate through regular or approved routes and as well as undergoing Pre-Departure Medical Health Assessments.