Qatar Taekwondo Federation on Wednesday, February 11, revoked visas issued to 16 persons who were posing as members of the Nigerian taekwondo team.
Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) had uncovered a visa racketeering group that specialise in smuggling names of non-members of the federation into the visa application list.
The Nigerian contingent is scheduled to attend the first Qatar International Taekwondo Open, a G1-ranked World Taekwondo Federation sanctioned event, billed to hold in Qatar from March 6 to 9.
Incidentally, some actual members of the national taekwondo team that won medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games are also billed to compete for Nigeria at the event.
The unscrupulous scheme was revealed as part of an aggressive drive by the International Department of the NTF to tackle visa racketeering through sports head-on. The first step is a constant check on the websites of international tournaments, to see if there are any suspicious names registered as members of the Nigeria taekwondo community.
A routine check earlier last week, which revealed the registration of 16 persons not in any way associated with the sport in Nigeria, set off the alarm. Unknown to the perpetrators, the Qatar Taekwondo Federation has an existing relationship with NTF, who immediately contacted their Middle East counterparts to crack down on the fraudsters.
The particulars (name, passport number, sex and place of birth) of the impersonators as noted on their submitted international passports are as follows:
Oyeniyi Ilesanmi (A03328102, Male, Ado-Ekiti), Idris Adeoye Adelakun (A05860794, Male, Lagos), Oluyinka Rebecca Adalawo (A03795343, Female, Lagos), Emeka Henry Oboyo (A06137015, Male, Ndioke), Kelechi Kanu (A04387855, Male, Arochukwu), Akeem Ayodeji Adekola (A03451884, Male, Lagos), Ghandi Maduka (A04229245, Male, Lagos), Michael Chukwuma Obianukor (A03577759, Male, Inyi), and Kamarudeen Owolabi Gbagba (A06183327, Male, Ilorin).
Others are Gbenga Ojo Adeyemi (A03517786, Male, Iwaro-Oka), Elvis Mike Erinmwionghae (A02640515, Male, Benin City), Mariam Damilola Abeeb (A05252613, Female, Lagos), Rilwan Oluwasegun Wahab (A04824863, Male, Lagos), and Yinka Usman Orimidara (A05245189, Male, Ibadan).
The details of two more names – Irabor Christopher and Gabriel Olushola Isokpehi (A05722999, Male) are being expected by the NTF.
To disguise the fraud in their application to the Qatar authorities, the impersonators signed off their emails in the name of the current president of the NTF, George Ashiru, and gave the correct address of the NTF office located at the National Stadium, Lagos.
In a confirmation email to fraudsters in which the NTF was copied, the Qatar Taekwondo Federation noted: “Please note that the attached visas are no longer valid. They have been cancelled due to special instructions issued by non-validity of these visas. Accordingly, we would like to inform you not to use these visas and if used by anyone would not be allowed to enter the State of Qatar.”
The NTF president had a strong message to this group, and similar groups trying to use sports as an avenue to get visa.
“The NTF is a very active, progressive and well-connected organisation that uses the sport of taekwondo to positively impact the lives of Nigerians and build career paths for hardworking Nigerian sportsmen and women.
“Your illegal activities harm the chances and careers of thousands of our up-and-coming and current taekwondo practitioners in Nigeria. Stay away from taekwondo and all sports federations,” he said.
The development points a bold way for many sports federations to tackle this far-reaching problem, to safeguard the chances of genuine sportsmen and women.
