Damilola Oyedele
14 October 2009
Lagos — Young Nigerian players are fast becoming victims of a football scouting scam. This rising trend is exposing them to a lot of dangers and dignities. DAMILOLA OYEDELE writes on the experience of some players while on a recent trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Chidi Nnakwe (not real name) was a footballer player for a couple of local teams some few years ago. Like every other budding player, he dreamed of playing for one of the big leagues in Europe. He had as inspiration the likes of Kanu Nwankwo, and Nigeria's football magician, Austin Jay Jay Okocha who all started from the local leagues, but eventually made it big with popular clubs in Europe.
On a fateful day, after a grueling match, a football scout walked up to him and said he has been following his games with keen interest. The alleged agent to him he can help if he (Chidi) was interested, to get trial sessions with some clubs in Ethiopia. Chidi saw his dream was about to come true and he quickly went borrowing to raise the $2000 he was told would take care of his registration, accommodation in Ethiopia, and air ticket. His father sold a piece of the family's land in the village to raise the rest of the money.
Chidi bid his friends and family goodbye, his mother was hopeful, that soon, her son would make it big and become a household name. Prayers were offered for him at a send off get together put together by his friends. He left for the airport, already having agreed with the scout that they would meet in Addis Ababa. On arrival at Addis Ababa, the scout was nowhere to be found, calls to his mobile phone did not go through as the operator tone said the number was no longer in use.
He left the airport for a nearby hotel where he lodged while he continued to try to reach the scout. He was soon thrown out of the hotel as he couldn't pay the bills anymore. He soon discovered that menial jobs were not available for foreigners in Ethiopia, so he resorted to sleeping in the streets and scourging for food from the trash bins. Chidi is frustrated, hungry, angry, but eager to return home. Help has since come his way through the Nigerian Embassy in Addis Ababa, and Chidi would hopefully soon return home.
This pathetic story is fast becoming the lot of many young Nigerian players through what can safely be assumed to be a football syndicate specialising in duping these desperate players. They leave the country full of hopes and dreams, but their dreams soon fade away when they discover they have been duped. While some are lucky to return home alive and in one piece, some have fallen victims to unfair immigration laws which hold them captive. Some have been murdered by immigration officials who want to avoid the bothersome diplomatic squabbles that accompany these cases.
THISDAY also encountered three young men, Segun, Austin and Blessing who told their story. They were players for Faith Football Club in Ikorodu Lagos State. Sometime in August, 2009, their Coach, Muhammed told them about openings in St. George FC in Ethiopia. Segun who was speaking for the group told THISDAY, "Coach Muhammed said the club was being promoted to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League, so they needed foreign players.
"He told us we would have to raise $2000 for the visa, tickets and accommodation. Although we couldn't raise all the money, he said he would complete it for us, and we would pay him back when we get signed on. (They had paid N280, 000, N270, 000 and N250, 000 respectively). We made preparation for the trip and we were taken to Ghana on September 9th by Cross Country Transport. After six days, they said the visa and ticket are ready and early in the morning of the 15th; we travelled very early to Accra Airport. The coach went with us and the agreement was that the agent, Mr. Muda Chambas is going to be here before us and make necessary arrangements to pick us at the airport and take us to the club."
A shock however awaited the trio as Chambas was nowhere to be found on arrival at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. According to them, they met someone at the airport who after they had explained their situation, took them to the airport desk of Sheraton Hotel so that the club can be contacted. The club sent a man who took them to a hotel to stay at about 10pm that night. The man took them to the club which was two and half hours drive away, the following morning.
But another shocker confronted them on arrival at the St. George FC, the coach told them they were not invited or needed as he had no space for new signings. He accused them of having forged their travel documents since they did not receive any invitation from the club.
Segun continued: "the coach at St. George FC confirmed that he knew Muda, but he said he had told him he didn't need new players. He however said he would try us after much pleading, and told us to prepare to train during the evening training session. The following day, we also played a match after which he said he would take a decision. At about 2pm, he instructed that our passport, which he had asked a player called Patrick form Uganda to take from us, were returned to us and we were taken back to Addis Ababa with two other players; one Nigerian called Anthony and a Ghanaian player."
At the airport, the trio plus the Ghanaian were told that their return tickets were not genuine and so could not be used. Anthony however had no problems and left for Nigeria immediately, while the Ghanaian went to his country's embassy. They went to lodge in a cheap hotel, while they contacted the coach in Nigeria. Coach Muhammed told them he had contacted Chambas who promised to buy them new tickets to return home. Their money ran out, they were thrown out of the hotel and like Chidi, spent two weeks sleeping in the streets before someone advised them to go to the Nigerian Embassy where they met THISDAY.
Upon examination of the boys travel documents, it was discovered that the visa for Ethiopia was issued in Accra, Ghana, and their tickets were also bought in Ghana. They had travelled by road from Nigeria to Benin Republic, Togo, and then Ghana, from where they took Ethiopian Airlines flight into Ethiopia on September 15th.
Nigeria's Permanent Representative to Ethiopia, Mrs. Nkoyo Toyo said there is an urgent need to create awareness on this new scam going on, with its accompanying dangers. Nigerians, she advised should have absolute facts about their intentions and destinations before leaving the country instead of just hopping on planes. Speaking to THISDAY, Toyo said "people would just get on the plane and start coming without enquiries or investigations. Nigerians just leave the country, if you know what they go through in transit, what we go through with people with fake passports, it is worrisome."
She disclosed that the embassy and other Nigerian missions abroad recently received letters from the Foreign Ministry in Abuja, directing them to take these issues seriously as Nigerians are being maltreated all over the world. She encouraged them to talk to the press about their situation so as to enlighten Nigerians back home, and to dispel the notion that the embassies abroad do not care about Nigerians. She urged Nigerians to always find out the locations and contact numbers of their embassies abroad before embarking on journey so that they can report immediately there is a problem.
"Please tell your story to the press, because at home people say we don't do anything when Nigerians face any hardship back home. The laws here are very strict and do not allow people to operate just anyhow. You cannot be a taxi driver, so for Nigerians to get up and think they can find jobs here, it is a serious situation because for every week they overstay, the embassy has to pay some amount of money. Sometimes what we do is contact their states and tell them their indigene is here so they can help, but we have never had any positive response," she emphasised.
Mrs. Toyo also called on regulatory authorities in Nigeria to look into the rising instances of fake tickets being issued by travel agencies, noting that even though the players' tickets were bought in Ghana, there had been instances of the same cases from Nigeria. During the conversation with THISDAY, the Ambassador decided to call the players' coach in Lagos and the following conversation ensued; (translated from Hausa)
Ambassador: We want to clarify, but were told the tickets are fake and boys are here and are stranded Coach: yes, that is true; they said the ticket was not paid for. The agent is an Ethiopian called Muda Ibn Chambas; he took them to St. George's FC, and then went back to Ghana. The club rejected them, so when they went back to the airport, they said the ticket was not genuine. I have been calling the guy on phone and we spoke, he said he has gone to book fresh tickets for the boys, so I would call you back tomorrow to give you reference numbers so that you can clarify at the airport with Ethiopian airlines. The booking he did for them was against Wednesday next week (October 7th). We have transacted business with him in the past and there was no problem.
Ambassador: did they pay for the trip and do they still have some of the money left?
Coach: yes they paid complete, but when they went to the airline, they said it is forged. Their money is with him, and he has to pay for the ticket. He said he would take them to different clubs, not just one, and they also stayed in a hotel in Ghana.
Ambassador: So are you saying that this is a genuine business?
Coach: it is a genuine business, we didn't know he would misbehave until he left them in Ethiopia, we have transacted business with him, we took some players to Ethiopia, they were not taken but they came back without any problem. I have told him frankly that the Ambassador is aware of this issue and action would be taken against him. I have spoken to their families to tell them what is happening.
The Ambassador however warned that she would report the coach to Nigerian authorities if he does not remedy the situation soon." This business you people are doing is very bad; you just expose young people to danger. We are facing too many cases like this here"
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