Uganda cancels visas for 28 suspected Nigerian fraudsters

August 20, 2013 (KAMPALA) – Uganda has cancelled the Visas of 28 Nigerian nationals following a spate of abductions in Kampala linked to a gang of Nigerians who kidnap wealthy foreigners and demand ransom from them, a Ugandan newspaper reported on Tuesday.

A spokesperson of the Uganda police told the state-controlled New Vision newspaper that the Nigerian gang operates in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia.

Four of the Nigerians were arrested by police and found to be in possession of documents with forged signatures of Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni.

“They forged and used them to lure businessmen into the country before the kidnap”, said Patrick Onyango, a spokesperson for the Ugandan police.

The arrest of the Nigerians led the Ugandan authorities to a larger group of 28 Nigerians, leading to the directorate of citizenship and cmmigration Control to cancel their visas which they acquired by pretending that they are students conducting research in Uganda.

The Uganda police say the suspected fraudsters had lured and taken ransoms of about $ 1 million from an American and an Australian citizen before freeing them.

The four Nigerians are being kept at a police facility in the Ugandan capital while awaiting their trial in court.

(ST)