How Nigerians get to overseas illegally

How Nigerians get to overseas illegally

Apart from marriage scams, Nigerians have found other ways to beat the system.

play Nothing lasts forever. Nigerians with fake papers are routinely deported
(Africa Telescope Mag )

Nigerians are notorious for doing whatever it takes to go abroad.

This usually means illegal ways to get into Europe or North America or generally anywhere that is considered better than home.

The poor state of infrastructures and a high cost of living have made many Nigerians travel to other parts of the world to start all over again. The economic hardships of the 80s and 90s saw an exodus of Nigerians leave the country in a massive brain drain.

play Nigerian brain drain
(Simad )

Embassies of nations like the United Kingdom and the United States of America where choked full with people who wanted to leave Nigeria for a better future. This led to an unpredictable problem of demand being greater than supply.

Even with the US visa lottery scheme of the 90s, there were too many people who wanted the visa to a country in Europe or even in Asia. With so much demand and little supply, Nigerians started coming up with schemes to beat the system.

One of the most popular schemes is for young Nigerian men to marry white women (usually old women) for immigration papers and visas. This racket still goes on till today. Once the guy gets abroad he swindles his wife and abandons her with his papers intact.

play For papers and visa some Nigerian men marry old white women
(Yaba Left Online )

It's a love swindle that is very vibrant. White women still fall for the scam of bagging themselves a black lover. Most times, they end up being used.

There are other ways Nigerians scam their way abroad. Below is a list of three other popular methods;

1) Visa lottery marriage scam

play The precious American Green Card
(Morocco World News )

The syndicates who specialize in getting fake papers for people to travel use this method. It involves pairing the desperate party with legitimate winners of the US visa lottery as a couple. If they are successful they fly abroad as man and wife only to part ways later on.

2) Smuggling overseas

play Two Nigerians, Blessing and a companion in Italy who were smuggled into the country
(Alex Majoli / Magnum for The New Yorker)

This is the most dangerous way of getting abroad illegally. It involves paying money to a smuggling ring to take you on the dangerous journey of making it to Spain in Europe. This involves the hellish journey of passing the Libyan desert where many people have died. This method is so dangerous that it is certainly not all people will make it. If you are lucky enough to make it, you have to deal with the ocean to make it into Spain. Most African migrants drown in this journey but once you make it to Spain you are finally in Europe.

3) Use another person's passport

play Nigeria Passport
(Premium Times)

This is another of going abroad illegally method. The fake owner of the passport hijacks the identity of the original owner to travel aboard. This scam is getting less popular due to the introduction of electronic passports.