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Tag: stranded

  • Swindled and stranded

    Swindled and stranded

    • Government and citizens have roles in tackling migration-related swindlers

    A striking number of desperate Nigerians fleeing their country in search of greener pastures have fallen prey to racketeers.  The United Nations agency on migration affairs, the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), lately said more than 1,000 Nigerians were deceived by fraudulent job offers in the United Kingdom, on which basis they obtained work visas out of Nigeria, only to get stranded in that foreign land. IOM Chief of Mission Laurent De Boeck, speaking at a news conference in Abuja, advised Nigerians to seek genuine and accurate information before migrating.

    Boeck said: “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 tell them that the letters did not emanate from the organisations. Over a thousand people are affected.”  Those Nigerians are consequently stranded, he added, because some of them lack the means to return to Nigeria, while others are ashamed of going back defeated.

    The IOM chief further disclosed that over 260,000 Nigerians approached the agency in 2023 seeking guidance on how to migrate through regular or approved routes. He also said the migration agency was working with partners to repatriate thousands of people, including Nigerians, from Tunisia, which recently placed a ban on migrants.

    The alarming picture corroborated a report, in August, that scores of Nigerians had fallen into destitution in the UK after leaving their native land on skilled worker visas with which they had hoped to make a living abroad. Many of them emptied their savings to pay ‘agents’ who promised them job placements upon relocation; but contrary to their expectations, these Nigerians ended up on UK streets begging for food, shelter and other basic needs.

     A Sky News report showed Nigerians who said they paid agents – effectively, visa middlemen – who got them skilled worker visas and documents indicating job offers that they found to be phony upon arrival in the UK. With no job, they have no means of sustenance, and are struggling to survive by sleeping rough and begging for food from humanitarian food banks.

    Read Also: Nigeria is in good hands, Tinubu assures citizens

    A victim who spoke to Sky News said she relocated to the UK after paying an agent £10,000 to get her a job as a carer, which, upon arriving in the country, she found to be non-existent contrary to assurances by the agent. Another victim, who said she was destitute in the UK, showed her passport and other documents proving her claim of having been offered a job that she eventually found to be phony. She was advised against taking the matter up with the agency that swindled her for fear of legal repercussions. “Their pathetic stories attest to how agents or middlemen are manipulating Nigerians desperate to travel out of the country with the skilled worker visa system, who have been promised opportunities only to find out that such do not exist,” the report had said.

    As we argued concerning the Sky News report, Nigerians getting stranded in foreign lands should serve as a warning against the blind flight – known as ‘japa’ syndrome – of compatriots from their country owing to prevailing anomie at home. Migration should happen after fully ascertaining the prospects ahead. In other words, whatever may be the motivation, risks involved in leaving one’s country must be well calculated and prepared for. And migration must be by official channels and procedures only, not by use of middlemen or other illegal routes.

    But it is also high time the Nigerian government engaged its UK counterpart in tackling the swindlers. It is curious, for instance, that UK consular officials failed to detect documents making fake job offers in their country before issuing work visas on the strength of such. Internally, the Federal Government, through the Foreign Affairs Ministry and National Orientation Agency, among others, should intensify public enlightenment on the issue.

    The ultimate solution is for the government to make living conditions conducive at home so as to render the allure of greener pastures less potent, and desperation for migration less intense.

  • Passengers stranded at BRT termini

    Passengers stranded at BRT termini

    Hundreds of passengers were stranded at  Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) terminuses in Lagos yesterday because of what was described as fuel shortage at Lagos BRT depots.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that passengers waited for hours for the buses.

    Many commuters resorted to alternative means of getting to their destinations.

    A BRT driver said their operations were affected by fuel shortage at their depots.

    “We are still expecting fuel supply to start operations; passengers have been stranded, waiting for us to start our operations. But we are hoping for the best, before the day runs out we will start our normal services,” he said.

    A civil servant, Mr Jimi Faleye, who lives in Fadeyi, Lagos, said commercial buses cashed in on the situation to increase fares.

    A trader, Mrs Titilayo Bolarinwa,  said she incurred more expenses because of the inavailability of  BRT.

    Primero Public Relations Officer Mrs Mosunmola Agbaje said there was a “little internal crisis” which the management was meeting to resolve.

    Agbaje said: “Very soon the buses would roll out for operations. There is a little internal crisis which will soon be resolved;  very soon the buses will roll out for operations.”

    On the death of a schoolboy on Monday, the spokesperson said a committee had been set up to look into the issue, adding that its outcome would be made public.

    NAN reports that most of the buses operated on Wednesday without their air conditions functioning.

    Commercial buses have increased their fares from N200 to N400 from Ikorodu to CMS; N250 to Ketu, and N300 to Mile 12 from Ikorodu as against N100.

  • Commuters stranded in Lagos

    Commuters stranded in Lagos

    HUNDREDS of commuters were stranded in Lagos yesterday as they waited endlessly at bus stops.

    There were no buses to convey them as many of the vehicles had gone to queue for fuel in filling stations.        On the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, commuters appealed to the Federal Government to end petrol scarcity which affected transport cost.

    They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that petrol scarcity led to an increase in transport fare and reduced the number of buses on the road.

    A NAN corresponden reports that  commuters were stranded at  Ilepo, Iyana Ipaja, Dopemu, Cement and Ikeja Along bus stops, among others.

    They scampered for spaces in the few available buses.

    NAN reports that transporters increased fares at Iyana Ipaja, Dopemu and Cement bus stops by 100 per cent or more.

    They charged from N400 to N500  to Yaba instead of N200, and demanded from N200 to N400 to Oshodi as against N100 or N150.

    A food vendor in Ikeja, Mrs Husna Shehu, appealed to the  government to intensify efforts to end fuel scarcity to alleviate the people’s  suffering.

    “The government should make petrol available in large quantities so that it will be a bad business for anyone to hoard it,” she said.

    A technician in Aluminum Village,Dopemu, Mr Tayo Sijuanu,  told NAN that he spent up to N1,000 from Sango Ota to Dopemu.

    “Before, I was not spending more than N200 to get to this place, but today the situation is different; we want government to help us,” he said.

    An engineer, Mr Tomi Adekanbi, however, blamed the increase in transport fares on transporters’ greed.

    Adekanbi said queues had reduced in many filling stations, implying availability of petrol.

    “All these big buses called ‘Parker’ use diesel, and diesel is not scarce; so, why are they charging N300 for a trip to Oshodi?” he asked.

    Mr Solomon Onyekwere, a civil servant, who told NAN that the government was committed to ending fuel scarcity, called for sanctions against greedy transporters.

    “The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) collected N200 for transport to Oshodi this morning instead of N100 because people are desperate and tired of standing on the road,’’ he told NAN.

    But, some transporters told NAN that fuel had yet to be available.

    A bus driver, Mr Wasiu Ifalana, who plies the Sango-Oshodi route, said he queued for hours to buy fuel at an exorbitant price on Tuesday, adding that he transferred the cost to passengers.

    “I have a fixed amount I must deliver to the owner of this bus daily, after spending hours at the filling station. How can I meet up?” he asked.

    Another bus driver who simply identified himself as Sunny also said fuel had yet to be available.

    He appealed to the government to end the scarcity fast.

  • Senate laments condition of Nigerian students stranded abroad

    THE Senate yesterday raised the alarm over Nigerian scholarship students stranded outside the country due to non-payment of their school fees.

    The upper chamber expressed displeasure that Nigerian students on federal scholarship are left abroad to suffer.

    Senate Chief Whip Senator Olusola Adeyeye raised the issue yesterday.

    He said urgent action should be taken to salvage the situation in the interest of the students as well as to redeem the country’s image.

    Adeyeye prayed the Senate to resolve to direct that all concerned agencies of the Federal Government involved in scholarship to meet with the Senate President Bukola Saraki to rectify the situation.

    The Senate also directed that the Nigerian amnesty programme must make payments to the Nigerian students in Russia that have not received their payments for over four years.

    Saraki was said to have at a meeting with Nigerian students studying in Russia promised that action would be taken on non-payment of their scholarships.

    In his comments, the Senate President: “This situation is very pathetic and it is also very serious and we must stand firm behind our students.

    “I had the opportunity to meet with my counterpart from Russia, where they categorically told us that they are able to provide more scholarships for Nigerian students.

    “Unfortunately, some that are given scholarships have not been paid in two years. Because of this, some are now roaming the streets doing other illegal activities. The minimum figure is about $500 per student; it is not acceptable.

    “We must address this. I promise you, next week, we will meet with the concerned MDAs and find a way to put this issue to an end for our students.”

    Senator Sam Egwu said the problem of Nigerian students studying overseas started a long time.

    Egwu (Ebonyi North) noted that when he was minister of education they had similar cases of non-payment of scholarship fees to Nigerian students abroad.

    He insisted that Nigeria must stop sending its students abroad to become beggars.

    He said it was unfortunate that some of them have started doing terrible things to survive, “but here we are spending billions while our students are suffering abroad”.

    Senator Bassey Akpan said the head of Federal Scholarship Board should be invited to explain what was going on and the way out.

  • Rivers APC urges Wike to aid stranded final-year medical students abroad

    RIVERS State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Davies Ikanya has urged Governor  Nyesom  Wike to aid  16 stranded final-year  medical students from Rivers on overseas scholarship.

    Ikanya, yesterday in Port Harcourt, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Public Affairs,  Chief Eze  Chukwuemeka Eze, urged Wike, a former Minister of State for Education, not to abandon the Rivers youths.

    He noted that the governor refused to pay the fees and allowances of the students, despite his 2015 campaign promises.

    All students of All Saints University, St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Canada, they were suspended in September 2016, two months to their graduation, and have not received their allowances for two years and 10 months.

    It was learnt the affected students had been at home since their suspension, with their landlords threatening legal actions to recover unpaid rent.

    Rivers APC chairman said: “As we prepare to ensure the ouster of the visionless, misguided and opportunistic  Wike government from the BrickHouse (Government House, Port Harcourt) in 2019, I plead with our elders, traditional and religious leaders to intervene and prevail on Wike to save the stranded children of Rivers State from further punishment and suffering, by paying their fees and allowances.

    “If not for any reason, let Wike act on humanitarian grounds, if he still has any human feeling, which we know he lacks, in order to save Rivers State from further embarrassment.”

    Last week, the parents of 22 final year medical students on overseas scholarship, under the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), urged Wike to show compassion on their children, by fulfilling his promise.

    They admonished the governor to pay the fees and allowances for the 2017/2018 medical final year students of the University of Debrecen in Hungary, to enable them to complete their programmes, obtain their certificates, settle their creditors and return to Nigeria.

    The parents solicited the help of Rivers elders, chiefs, religious leaders, men and women of goodwill, as well as human rights organisations to plead with Wike to bring an end to the agonising plight of their children.

  • 500 Jigawa pilgrims stranded at airport

    500 Jigawa pilgrims stranded at airport

    NO fewer than 500 people who were to be on the first flight of the Jigawa State intending pilgrims were allegedly stranded at Dutse International Airport for the failure of MAX Air to airlift them to Saudi Arabia.

    MAX Air is the air carrier approved by the National Hajj Commission (NAHCO) to airlift 2000 Jigawa State intending pilgrims in this year’s Hajj exercise.

    Reports from the state indicated that the Jigawa State Pilgrims’ Welfare Board and MAX Air designed and agreed on three flights to airlift the 1,485 pilgrims, beginning from August 15.

    Our correspondent gathered that the state’s Pilgrims’ Welfare Board made an arrangement and called the intending pilgrims from 14 local government areas across the three senatorial districts of the state.

    A source at the board, who preferred anonymity, told our reporter in Dutse that MAX Air later changed the first flight from August 15 to August 17; a situation that force the board to change its earlier plan to march the Airways’ time.

    Contacted on the phone, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of MAX Air, Alhaji Ibrahim Dahiru, said: “I’m now in Abuja. I don’t know actually what the problem is. Let me call and find out.”

    Dahiru stated further: “I have to call them and hear from them. I will talk to you lattr.”

    However, at the time of filing this report, there was no response from the PRO.

    Also contacted, the Public Relation Officer of the Jigawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Ibrahim Hashimu Kanya, said: “We did everything from our side. We are awaiting the airways to bring the aircraft that will convey them.

  • Lufthansa strike leaves passengers stranded

    Lufthansa strike leaves passengers stranded

    Hundreds of Nigerian passengers were yesterday  stranded at airports in Lagos, Abuja  and Port Harcourt  as pilots of German carrier,  Lufthansa Airlines embarked on a strike over pay rise.

    The strike will affect over 100,000 passengers on its global network.

    The airline is expected to lose between $7.4 million and $ 9.6 million per day .

    The action  will affect flights departing from German airports, including 51 long-haul  scheduled flights.

    Flights  by Lufthansa‘s other airlines, including Germanwings, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines, will not be affected.

  • Students stranded after UNILAG’s closure

    Students stranded after UNILAG’s closure

    Many University of Lagos (UNILAG) students have become stranded following the school’s closure last Friday.

    They do not have money to transport themselves home.

    They have been forced to squat with friends, hoping that the school will reopen soon.

    An executive member of Sodeinde Hall told The Nation that students never expected the school’s closure, but only wished to draw management’s attention to their plight.

    The student said: “The school sent us text messages to vacate school that Friday morning. My phone record showed that the message (to leave school) got to my phone around 6:30am but I woke up around 7:30am to see it, which meant I had less than three hours to vacate the school. But most of the people I know that stay on campus, including myself don’t live in Lagos State. I live in Adaamo, in Ogun State so it is not possible for me to suddenly pack up and go home within the stipulated time. I did not even have the money to go home so I am squatting with a friend at Sabo”.

    The students, he said, were forced to protest because of monopoly of Unilag ventures on ‘pure’ water, among others.

    “People believe Unilag boys and girls are big boys that pluck money on trees, but it is a lie. Most of us hustle for our school fees and feed ourselves in school. So when we could not find sachet water to drink, we had to be buying table water, which was much more expensive. Imagine, I bought garri (cassava) for N20 and sugar for N10. Normally, I would have bought N5 or N10 sachet water, but because there was no sachet water in the school, I had to buy N50 table water. What polynomial function would justify N30 garri and sugar with N50 table water? Unilag has this policy of monopoly of sachet water because we have Unilag ventures, but these people have been hoarding the sachet water intentionally because they want to be selling it at N10 to outsiders.”

    A 300 level mass communication student lamented what he called management’s injustice, especially the scaring of students with security operatives.

    The student, who is squatting with a friend at Bariga, said: “People were passing through the canal because of the ongoing panic to leave school. But we never wanted the school to be closed down. To show that we did not want the school shut, we started the protest on Wednesday, around 4:30pm, the normal time that all academic activities should have stopped for the day and the protest was very peaceful. But on Thursday, before we even started protesting, we could see so many police vans everywhere, as if we were fighting a war. We did not understand it, when all we wanted was for the VC to address us and show us that the university cared. On Friday, police vans were parading the school blaring sirens. That was what even woke me up, as if they were threatening us that if we do not leave, something would happen. The school gate had been locked by University of Lagos Student Union (ULSU) because as people were moving out that morning; hoodlums were already outside collecting people’s bags and properties. So it was not safe. So that is why we had to pass through the canal. Now, I am staying with a friend at Bariga, because I don’t have the money to go home.”

    However, a 400 level law student of Biobaku Hall, believed management did the right thing by sending students home.

    He said: “I feel management did the right thing ordering students to leave campus, because things were getting out of hand. Students were getting violent, fighting, forcing students that did not want to protest to come out of their hostels and join them. But it would have been the best for the VC to come out and address the students. That would have solved a lot of issues. I live at Akoka, so it was not difficult for me to go back home.”

    ULSU President, Muhammed Olaniyan has decried management’s “refusal” to listen to them until the union was able to address the issue.

    “What we were telling management was that they should look at issues concerning students and do something about it. We told the students not to leave school on Friday, but looking at the number of police and armoured tanks the school had deployed, we had to renege on our order, by telling the students to obey management’s directive. We are working hard to speak with management to ensure that students return to school as soon as possible,” he said.

    Dean, Students Affairs (DSA), Prof Tunde Babawale, said the Senate closed the school, adding that it will reopen it when it is time to do so.

    He said: “That is the consequence of their negative actions and there is nothing the university can do but to close, because the protest was degenerating into violence. Don’t forget, we did not shut down the university until the third day of their continuous protests. It started on Wednesday, continued on Thursday and even Friday. No responsible management will wait and see the degeneration of protests into a situation of violence and disruption of activities and allow it to continue, so the school had to take the necessary and rational step of bringing the situation under control by asking students to go home. It was not meant to harm them in anyway, it was meant to restore normalcy to the school. The school was closed down by the senate, so only the senate can say when it will be open. I am not in the position to know. Even the VC can’t know.”

  • Passengers groan as LAGBUS drivers protest poor welfare

    Passengers groan as LAGBUS drivers protest poor welfare

    Commuters in Lagos on Friday groaned as drivers of LAGBUS downed tools to protest restrictions preventing them from plying Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) lanes in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that tension had been rife since December 2015 when the Ikorodu-Mile 12 BRT corridor was opened and a new operator for the blue buses resumed.

    Some drivers told NAN in separate interviews that the management had failed to address issues relating to the restriction and poor staff welfare.

    When NAN visited the Toll-Gate depot of the LAGBUS on Friday morning, more than 60 drivers had converged at the entrance on its premises.

    Also, the protesting drivers prevented any bus from leaving the premises of the company, while those who returned late to the depot on Thursday were seen parked outside.

    A driver who preferred anonymity said: “our red buses were denied access to use the dedicated lane; and any red bus that plied it was arrested and fined.

    “So, our management asked us to comply with the directive which they said was from the government; we accepted.

    “But only yesterday, Thursday, the restriction was extended from Mile 12 to CMS and we began to experience arrests and harassment by the BRT monitoring task force for using the corridor.

    “Instead, we are being asked to use the service lane which we consider dangerous to our lives because they want us to now compete with yellow-painted buses whose drivers already accuse us of taking all their passengers.

    “So, that’s the reason for the peaceful protest.”

    The driver said apart from posing a security threat, the restriction had defeated the purpose of reducing delays for passengers and exposed drivers to stress.

    He said efforts to have the management of LAGBUS intervene bore no fruit.

    “They refused to act, instead, they told us to comply with the directive,” he said.

    Another source accused the management of paying lip service to welfare issues.

    “As drivers, we earn a salary of between N22, 000 and N42, 000 a month.

    “Our basic salary is actually N22, 000 monthly, but you earn additional N1, 000 for each day you sign in for work, then another N1, 000 if you are lucky to get a bus to drive for the day.

    “We are also given four per cent of our daily revenue, especially when we meet sales target.

    “How can we earn so little each month when our contemporaries working for the blue buses earn as much as N80, 000 monthly without targets?” the source queried.

    Efforts to reach both the managing director of LAGBUS and its spokesperson for reactions proved abortive as calls to their phones did not connect.

    However, a senior staff of LAGBUS who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said the issues would be resolved.

    He said: “It is true that our captains are on strike because of issues concerning the restrictions and management’s inability to carry every staff along.

    “But, I am sure that the issues would be resolved amicably and commuters would begin to enjoy our services once again.”

    Meanwhile, some stranded passengers who spoke to NAN urged the Lagos State Government to intervene in the matter in the interest of commuters and residents of Lagos.

    Miss Caroline Chinedu, a banker, said, “I want to appeal to Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode to wade into this issue because exposing us (passengers) to the chaotic traffic situation after a hectic day’s would be unfair.

    “The red buses have been life savers, especially during traffic, as they just glide unhindered along the dedicated lane.

    “So, asking them to use the service lane means many of us who work on the Island would arrive home in the dead of the night.”

    Another commuter, Mr. Musiliu Kamoru, a businessman, said: “The drivers and their management should ensure the issues are resolved during the weekend before Monday to reduce passenger hardship.

    “We are still battling with increased transport fare caused by fuel scarcity, and now the LAGBUS issue is rearing its head.”

     

  • Travellers stranded on damaged Benin-Warri highway

    Travellers stranded on damaged Benin-Warri highway

    Thousands of travellers using the Benin-Warri expressway to the East were at the weekend stranded on the damaged portions.

    Many of them spent the night on the road.

    A gridlock resulting from the failed parts made driving a nightmare.

    Our reporter, who visited the collapsed sections near Adagbarassa Junction and Oviri, yesterday, met several stranded travellers.

    “We have been here for over six hours and we cannot proceed further because as you can see, the road is blocked,” a truck driver from Kebbi State, Dirisu said.

    The strategic Benin-Warri axis of the East-West highway is the preferred route for those travelling from Lagos and other western states to Port Harcourt (Rivers), Calabar (Cross River), Uyo (Akwa Ibom) and other major cities and towns in the Southsouth and Southeast.

    From a few potholes sometime ago, the bad spots have turned into gullies.

    In a special report in its Niger Delta Report section, The Nation raised the alarm on the deplorable state of the road.

    The report warned that unless the road was repaired, it would cause a nightmare to motorists during the rainy season.

    But barely a few weeks into the rainy season, the road has turned a major headache for travellers and transporters. They have been spending hours on the damaged portions, about four kilometres long.

    “The worst part of this problem is that this part of the road has no alternative. The only way around it is to go through Effurun/Eku/Amukpe. That, apart from taking longer hours, is also in a deplorable state and risky because of armed robbers,” a driver said.

    The dilapidated road has led to an increase in fares by as much as 100 per cent.

    For instance, a 20-minute journey from Warri to Sapele, which hitherto cost about N250, is now N550.

    Also, the one-hour trip from Benin to Warri, which cost between N500 and N650, rose to N1,200.

    “My brother, that is where we found ourselves. Worse still, there is nothing we can do about it. We are not in the government. We have to meet the costs and save something to cater for the family at home,” said Ejiro, a driver who conveyed our reporter from Effurun Roundabout to Oviri.

    Investigation by our reporter showed that the gridlock was worsened by a lack of officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to control  the traffic.