After a media report by LiveTimesNG where a group petitions President Buhari and fingered Nigerian Ambassador in Berlin over sex for passport saga, our reporters received a call from an insider, Mr. Obiora Nweke, who gave us a deep understanding on the corruption pervading the Embassy of Nigeria in Berlin and countered the petition sent to President Buhari.
In the petition, the group who are Nigerians but domiciled in Germany under the aegis of “For the Sake of Nigeria’s image “, FSNI, said it has written and dispatched a petition to President Muhammad alleging the Nigeria Ambassador in Berlin of gross complicity, aiding and abetting touts and deliberately frustrating diligence at the Embassy.
In the letter, which was signed by Victor Christian Chukuwuma, Segun Adebisi Arijaje and Mohammed Sani Bagudu, the group alleged that the Nigeria Ambassador in Berlin, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar is not able to put a stop to the activities of known visa and passport touts, all Nigerians and which is denting the image of Nigeria in Germany.
The statement reads: “We as citizens of Nigeria domiciled in Germany wish to intimate the President and good people of Nigeria of the can of worms at the Embassy of Nigeria under H.E. Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, which led to the sex for passport saga which has cast a blur in the image of Nigeria in the comity of nation.
“From our findings, the passport syndicate at the embassy was organized by the Station Head of Immigration, Mr. Imoh Ebong Asuquo upon arriving in Berlin in 2017. Some members of his syndicate include Chuks Biaduo (aka Don), Okechukwu Nwukeforo (aka Bob Okey), Obiwanne, Chidinmma Ohakwe Nwandikom (ex-staff, whose contract was not renewed due to various corruption charges), Obinna Simeon Nzodinma (identified as the commentator in the video), Lucky (aka Blessed Passport). These people seize on the scarcity of appointments for applicants caused by the Covid 19 shutdown, to charge desperate Nigerians exorbitantly to fast-track the applications.
“We understood that Mr. Martins is a locally recruited staff, heading the security section. These were charged with ensuring that a new appointment system introduced in March 2020 would give no preferences to influences. A lady applicant, whom Mr. Martins met on her visit to the Embassy for passport renewal and a change to her data, Ms. Faith Uche, had a valid appointment and this qualified her access to the Embassy. We understood from sources close to the Embassy that both agreed to meet after she finished her business, which they did.
“The said Ms. Uche came to Berlin, signed for and collected her passport and waited several hours to meet with the Mr. Martins inside the hotel that the video was made. We spoke with Ms. Uche on phone, but she refused to comment on the critical but necessary questions that could cement the claim of “sex for passport” by Mr. Martins. Moreover, we learned from the same sources that both accusers, Mr. Obinna Simeon Uzodinma and Ms. Uche did not honor the invitation by the panel setup by the Ambassador to investigate the accusations levied against Mr. Martins in the video”, the statement reads.
However, while speaking to our reporter, Obiora said the report with headline: “Group petitions President Buhari, fingers Nigerian Ambassador in Berlin over sex for passport saga”, was not true saying it was an attempt to cover the sins of Mr. Martins who was accused of sex for passport allegation in the viral video.
Obiora who was described in the report as one of the touts used in the embassy, said he has videos and other details to further nail the accused security man in the embassy while he claimed Mr. Martins has earlier had canal knowledge of the woman they caught with him in the hotel. He added that Mr. Martins wanted to have another intercourse with the woman with his friend named, Muyiwa when they burst him.
He added that Mr. Martins wouldn’t have opened the door for them but he thought it was Muyiwa was at the door who they both wanted to molest the lady but he was surprised when he saw them.
However, when our reporter demanded for the videos and other details that he claimed to further use to indict Mr. Martins, Obiora made a U-turn, saying he is taking the evidence to CNN for proper reportage.
Meanwhile, LiveTimesNG has earlier gotten in touch with a source who claimed to be family member of Mr. Martins but didn’t disclose his name.
The family source said Mr. Martins who was the staff of Nigerian embassy in Germany was set up by those men in the video.
The man while talking to our reporter on phone said a lot of corruptible acts have been going on in the embassy and Mr. Martins had been the torn in the flesh of the perpetrators of corruption in the embassy, saying it was the reason he was set up, an organized plan to remove the barricade against corrupt group of touts, who are all Nigerians and feeding fat off fellow Nigerian passport applicants.
The source maintained that the woman who was caught with Mr. Martins in the hotel room was not even a married woman as reported saying that she needed no favor from him because she has already qualified and has been cleared to collect her passport.
He added that on the day the incident happened, she was already with her passport adding that it was the lady that proposed to Mr. Martins unknowing that the lady was used to set him up.
He recounted how Mr. Martins started working in the embassy in 2004 before he was seconded to the renaissance desk in 2006 and visa desk in 2007. He said Mr. Martins was deployed to these departments because corruption was endemic there.
He said Mr. Martins was further deployed to the passport desk where he became pioneer staff of ECOWAS passport. In 2011, he said he was deployed to the account department where he became a revenue collector.
He said in 2017, the new ambassador, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar was appointed and moved him from office/facility manager to head the security department because of his good records. He claimed that Mr. Martins was charged with full responsibility for the appointment system and had never betrayed this responsibility to date. His current predicament was corruption fighting back because with his actions at the security, he helped stop massive passport racketeering with over €40,000 of illicit earnings each month.
The source claimed that the video was corruption striking back as it was organized to intimidate and create an instrument of blackmail. The intention was to use the video as leverage so that this same group could send their clients without valid appointments to the embassy. Our source further said that the video was made in August but as Mr. Martins had refused to subject to various threats and denied clients sent to the Embassy without merit, they made good on their threat, the source said further.
