In October 2023, Lawal Adetola (not real name) began negotiations with his friend, Mike Ntomobong Ime, for a visa application to the United States. However, what seemed like a straightforward process turned out to be a scam. About two months after the deal, his supposed friend would block him from communicating without delivering any relevant visa documents.

As a civil servant based in Osun State, Adetola told FIJ how he had always dreamt of relocating outside the country. However, his search for a greener pasture had been stalled by funding limitations and, most importantly, his wariness of fake travel agents.

According to him, he decided to entrust Ime with the process since Ime already resided in California. It would be easier to apply using the experience of a trusted friend and a resident of the country he wanted to visit, he thought.

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“He was a friend before he left Nigeria for the USA. So, it wasn’t like I needed convincing when I consulted him about visa applications. In my mind, this person had been an acquaintance, and he had experience with the process, so it’d be easy. Besides, I don’t trust travel agents, so I stuck with someone I knew,” Adetola said.

After the deal had been sealed, Adetola paid the first installment of N60,000 on October 26. The receipts of the transactions made available to FIJ substantiate this. Adetola made subsequent payments of N45,000, N7,000 and N35,000 on the same day. By November 1, he had paid N197,000 in total to Mike Ime for his visa application.

Ime gave the unsuspecting Adetola more reasons to be at ease when he sent him some letters on the same day he made the payments. One of the letters was a note of invitation, and the other was a letter of sponsorship. The letters, which Adetola provided to FIJ, carried the name and address of a certain ‘Asociado de Compsensacion y Beneficios’.

Adetola, however, began to get suspicious when Ime asked him for another N400,000 to book appointments at the United States Embassy. He told FIJ that he had spoken with some other people in the United States who were his friends.

These people had warned him that the Ime’s requests were suspicious. The suspicions made Adetola confrontational and the confrontation cost him the audience with Ime.

“I stopped sending him money after weeks of waiting and getting confusing responses. He asked me for another N400,000. I know little about travelling. But he tried to convince me. He even told me to sell my land. I started getting suspicious,” Adetola told FIJ.

“I had to admit that I lost my temper with him. So I was angry in my text. He blocked me immediately after I asked him what was going on. He blocked me on Facebook, WhatsApp and everywhere.”

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Adetola also spoke about the potential implications of not getting a refund or a visa. He said that it would set him back a few months and cost him his dream to travel within the year.

FIJ reached out to Mike Ime on December 22, 2023, about the allegations via text. However, his line appeared to be out of commission. FIJ texted him on Facebook on January 2. In his response, Ime denied knowing Adetola.

“I don’t know him, and you can go to press,” he said.