Seychelles Island Red-Flags Nigerians Over Fraud And Drug Traffic

According to Seychelles Island authorities, a rise in drug trafficking and fraud committed by people using Nigerian passports has compelled them to tighten their border controls against the Nigerian people.

Ahmed Afif, the vice president of Seychelles, stated that Nigerians with diplomatic passports and active work or residency licenses from the island nation will be permitted entry in a meeting with reporters on Thursday, July 13.

“For the others, the government will keep its eyes open and SEBS (Seychelles Electronic Border System) will analyse much more to find out what reasons they are coming example someone who is coming for a holiday for only one day. We have to ask questions because it is strange and we have seen that happening,” he said.

He continued by saying there were other occasions where several Nigerians entered the nation after receiving cash from one source.

“When we checked the payments made for them to come to Seychelles, it is from only one source. This is for different people coming on different days which shows an organised syndicate,” said Afif.

He said that in recent months, particularly, the administration has seen “a tendency that we have deemed as dangerous for our border control and economy, due to criminal activities happening in the country.”

“We have seen a clear link between this with certain people from Nigeria. In the past two weeks, for example, 13 people coming from Nigeria have been arrested when entering Seychelles because they were carrying drugs into the country,” said the Vice President.

He continued by saying that there had been instances of Nigerians using fake credit cards at tourist attractions in recent months.

“In one case, 62 Nigerians who said they were on holiday used false credit cards and the money was never credited to the accounts of these establishments. These establishments have lost money. These people spent free holidays in the country at the expense of the establishment owners and there is nothing that can be done for them,” Afif said.

Additionally, he mentioned other instances that involved financial institutions, including one in which Nigerians were complicit in a fraud that cost £1 million.

“There are other online scams originating from Nigeria. We have seen that these people are also coming to Seychelles and doing those scams. We do not have a problem with Nigeria or its people though we do not tolerate such criminal activities in our country,” said Afif.