The Federal Government has ended the Visa-on-Arrival policy, saying that Nigeria is not a destination for criminals

The Minister of Interior Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who made the announcement, said the policy was not effective.

He disclosed that government had noticed a pattern where people avoid travelling into the country directly by air, only to land at neighbouring countries and complete their journeys through land borders.

He described the scenario as unacceptable, saying the Federal Government would unveil a multi-faceted solution by March or April to take care of grey areas on entry into and exit out of the country.

Tunji-Ojo said in place of Visa-on-Arrival, landing and exit cards will be introduced and integrated into the solutions for travelers to complete before arriving in Nigeria.

The Visa-on-Arrival policy was introduced in 2020 as a short-stay visa issued at entry points, but the Minister said the policy failed to meet global standards and best practices as it was not done anywhere in the world.

Tunji-Ojo spoke at the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS) on Friday during the closing ceremony of the five-day training and capacity building programmes on Advanced Passenger Information-Passenger Name Record, API/PNR System for NIS officers.

The capacity building for 100 Officers was organised by the Nigeria Immigration Service under the leadership of the Comptroller-General of the Service, Mrs Kemi Nanna Nandap.

Tunji-Ojo said:” The Visa-on-Arrival issue is one of the core policy issues because I always tell people the visa is not just an approval of entry, it is a migration management device.

“It is a security device to manage migration into your country. So the way it is at the moment is very subjective. We are not really too objective and that is why we are automating the whole process end-to-end.

“And the e-visa solution, we are working hard to be able to meet the first of March or peradventure if we are unable, the first of April, we will hit it live.

“We will automate the system. People apply online and we will do what we need to do. That solution will be integrated with the Interpol system, the criminal records system, so that we can be able to take decisions.

“We do not want foreign attachés approving and issuing visas. It is not going to be that any more, we want to be able to screen people. This country cannot be a destination for wanted criminals in the world. Nigeria is not a safe haven for any criminal and it will never be.”

The Minister who said about 60 of the border solutions are being completed in Nigeria various borders, land maritime and air, insisted that the security of the country and her citizens remained sacrosanct under the present administration.

He said: ”Today, we have had, we have sorted the API across all of our five international airports and we are looking at working with you more on the issue of adapting some of these into our land borders because it is also very key.

“Because we realised the pattern, of recent, I think, over the last couple of weeks, that a lot of people would rather fly to neighbouring countries and come into Nigeria through the land borders to evade the API PNR system. So we have seen that pattern.”

Tunji-Ojo assured that when all the e-solutions are deployed it would be linked not only with all security agencies at home but also globally, and especially with interpol so that persons of interests can be arrested at anywhere.

Nandap commended President Bola Tinubu and the Minister for their commitment to the ongoing reforms in the NIS, saying that the reforms have changed the narratives for the better.

Oba Abdulsemiu Ogunjobi, the suspended Olorile of Orile-Ifo in Ogun State, has been freed from prison in Ilaro, two weeks after being charged with the alleged public assault of a septuagenarian.

He was brought before a Magistrate’s Court in Ifo by law enforcement, where he was granted bail but subsequently held at the Nigeria Correctional Service in Ilaro, within the Yewa South Local Government Area, until he fulfilled the requirements of his bail.

The spokesperson of Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Mr. Odukoya Owolola Olayinka, a Superintendent of NCoS, told The Nation that Oba Ogunjobi had gone home about three days ago after meeting his bail terms.

“He (Oba Ogunjobi) has gone home about three days ago,” Olayinka said.

Oba Ogunjobi was arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, assault, and conduct likely to lead to a breach of peace.

Force spokesman, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Muyiwa Adejobi, disclosed the arraignment in his social media post, stating that the monarch was charged to court.

“The Kabiyesi Abdulsemiu Ogunjobi, who assaulted one elderly man in a viral video, in Ifo Ogun State, has been charged to court  February 4, 2025, on three-count charges of conspiracy, assault and conduct likely to lead to a breach of peace.

“He was granted bail while the case was adjourned to 06/03/2025. The police will continue to uphold the rule of law and the core values of the noble profession,” Adejobi stated.

Oba Ogunjobi who was arraigned before Magistrate F.A Iroko, pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

The Magistrate granted him bail of N5m, with two sureties in like sum, and he must be a resident within the court jurisdiction.

Justice Rosemary Dugbo Oghoghorie of the Federal High Court in Calabar has convicted and sentenced the Chief Executive Officer, Micheno Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, Uno Michael Eke to one year imprisonment for conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretence and money laundering to the tune of N2billion.

He was jailed after pleading guilty to four-count amended charge preferred against him by the Uyo Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Count One reads “That you, Uno Michael Eke (being the President/Chief Executive Officer of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society); Registered Trustees of Micheno Multi Purpose Cooperative Society, MMCS, Aya Kanu Aya, (Alias Mbakara) being the Vice President of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (now at large), sometime between June and August 2018 in Calabar within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired among yourselves to commit an offence to wit: obtaining property by false pretence and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act’.

Count two reads “That you, Uno Michael Eke (being the President/Chief Executive Officer of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society), Registered Trustees of Micheno Multi Purpose Cooperative Society, MMCS, Aya Kanu Aya (Alias Mbakara) being the Vice President of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (now at large), on or about the 12th day of July, 2018 in Calabar within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of Two Million Naira (N2,000,000.00) from one Kubnse Ogar Ebute by inducing her to invest the money into your Swiss golden packages through your Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society ltd under the false pretence of paying her 80% as return on investment on her principal sum on the 40th day of his investment, which you knew to be false and thereby committed an Offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act”.

When the charge was read to Eke, he pleaded guilty to the criminal offence.

In view of his guilty plea, the prosecuting EFCC’s lawyer, Joshua Abolarin prayed the court to convict the defendant based on the charges before the court. The defence lawyer , Ime Umanah informed the court of a plea bargain agreement before the court and prayed for a lighter jail term for his client.

The judge, after considering the plea of the convict and evidence before the court, convicted and sentenced Eke to one year imprisonment with an option of fine of N2m Also, the convict was ordered to forfeit the following to the Federal Government of Nigeria:

Twelve wflats of 2 bedrooms each located by Goodluck Jonathan bypass, Calabar River State, two (2) plots of land (4.162 hectares and 3.391 hectares) both located at Adiabo Ikot Mboout Community Land, Odupkpani LocAl Government Area, Cross River State, two (2) plots of land located at Akai Effa, Calabar Municipality, Cross River State and eighteen (18) self-contained flats (storey building), located beside University of Calabar, Ita-Agbor, Calabar, Cross River State and N10,000.000( Ten Million Naira) recovered during investigation. The judge ordered that all monies recovered from the convict should be restituted to victims listed in all the charges.

Eke’s road to the Correctional Centre began when he was arrested for collecting huge sums of money from different unsuspecting victims with a promise of 80% return on investment within 40 days. Investigations showed that he opened different bank accounts in his name and company’s where he raked in the sum of N2 billion from his victims. The funds were used to acquire landed properties and houses in Calabar, Cross River State.