A medical doctor, Oluremi Taiwo Abioye and his Chief Matron wife, Chief (Mrs.) Yemisi Christianah Abioye has accused the Consular-General of the American Embassy, Lagos of issuing them fake visas which led to their being embarrassed and deported from a foreign country en route to the United States of America (USA).
The duo, through their counsel, Wale Ogunade Esq. of Wale Ogunade Chambers, are demanding Two Million, One Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred Naira (N2,192,800.00) and Eight Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty-One and Ninety-Two Cents ($8,551.92) only which represents the money paid for the various visa applications and other sundry expenses. They are also asking for the sum of Twenty Million Naira (N20,000,000.00) only for damages, embarrassment, stress, damages and breach of contract caused by the embassy, within 14 days of receipt of the petition.
In the petition, dated 23rd March 2022, and titled: “Letter of Demand”, the medical doctor and his spouse explained that they went through all the procedures of obtaining visas including personal interviews at the Lagos office of the embassy. They said they were subsequently issued travel visas by the embassy on the 26th of October, 2016 and that their passports and visas were delivered to them by DHL, which is the approved and recognised courier service to the embassy.
Mr and Mrs Abioye said they subsequently purchased flight tickets from Turkish Airlines and on the 15th day of March 2017 boarded an aircraft for the United States en route to Ataturk Airport, Istanbul, Turkey. They said they were accosted the following day at the airport and sent back to Lagos, Nigeria because their visas had issues.
“As a result of this experience and to knowing the African way of doing things, which is that they have informed friends and relatives that they will be going to America for some few weeks and the journey became aborted, thus making them go through the shame, became a laughing stock and objects of ridicule among family and friends. In fact, they are still traumatised by the experience five (5) years after
“Our clients informed us that after this event and getting back to the Embassy, they were prompted to apply for another visa, which they did, not once but six times, paying Fifty-Three Thousand, Six Hundred Naira (N53,600.00) only on each occasion, for each person
“Our client informed us that the total sum of Two Million, One Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred Naira (N2,192,800. 00) only, and Eight Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty-One Dollars, Ninety-Two Cent ($8,551.92) only were incurred for this events.
“That all efforts by our client to get their visas or a refund for payment made for which product were not given have proved abortive”.
Meanwhile, attempts made by Eighteen-Eleven Media to get a reaction from the embassy failed.
Below is the mail sent to the consular office.
Dear Sir/Ma,
My name is Adeyemi Adebanjo and I represent Eighteen-Eleven Media, a privately owned media organisation with head office in Lagos, Nigeria.
My organisation receives a petition addressed to the Consular-General. It was signed by Wale Ogunade of Wale Ogunade Chambers in respect of their client, Dr Oluremi Taiwo Abioye and Chief (Mrs) Yemisi Christianah Abioye.
The said letter was received in your office by one Yakubu A. on 24th March 2022.
We seek:(1) a confirmation of receipt of the said letter, and (2) your reaction to the issues raised in the said letter.
We look forward to your prompt response on the above as this will facilitate a balanced report of what actually transpired.
For the avoidance of doubt, our website address is www.eighteenelevenmedia.com. You can also reach us via….
Best regards.
Adeyemi Adebanjo
The Embassy replied:
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for writing to the U.S. Visa Service Desk.
We understand that you need assistance.
In response to your concern, please be informed that the visa approval or denial is at the sole discretion of the Consular Officer. Further, you may visit the below link to select the correct visa as per the purpose of travel: http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/ng-niv-visatypeinfo.asp
The documents/ materials submitted here will not be submitted to the Consulate/Embassy.
The Consulate General will provide instructions on how to submit other supporting documents for the application.
Please be informed that original documents are always preferred over photocopies. Do not fax, email or mail any supporting documents to the Embassy/Consulate General.
We hope this information is helpful to you.
Please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T3P3RXJ to share feedback on the services we provide.
Have a pleasant day!
Sincerely,
U.S. Visa Service Desk