950805

Pak businessmen

warned of Nigerian

crooks syndicate

AMANULLAH BASHAR

KARACHI: A syndicate of crooks in Nigeria has duped quite a few Pakistani businessmen of million of rupees on the promise of getting them contracts in various projects like Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation or helping them established business ventures with foreign partners.

The High Commissioner of Nigeria in Pakistan, Al Haji Abdul Razzak Yunusa, speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, warned the Pakistani businessmen to beware of such offers.

He said that although the matter had been already brought to the notice of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and various other chambers incidents of forgery and fraud are still be reported occasionally to Nigerian High Commissioner, he said.

He disclosed that some of the crooks have been arrested in Nigeria, however, some of them are still active and exploiting the greed of the business community for quick profits.

The modus operandi of these swindlers is that they write letters to selected persons informing them that following exhaustive enquiries and compilation of dossiers on foreign firms and personalities "you were discretely recommended to us that you can be trusted to handle a transaction of such considerable size."

The Nigerian High Commissioner sounded a note of warning to potential dupes that now the members of this syndicate have started telling their customers that they should not apply for visa through the High Commission and that those invited should go to Nigeria direct as arrangement would be made to secure visas for them on arrival at the airport in Nigeria.

The Nigerian immigration does not grant visas on arrival at the airport, the Nigerian diplomat said categorically.

Referring to some cases of frauds, he said that these miscreants have been encouraged by a few positive responses from some greedy Pakistanis who innocently or otherwise take hasty decisions without giving a second thought to such offers. Whenever such gullible people come to the High Commission for visas and are questioned during interview they avoid to confess that they are planning to go for that kind of bogus business.

Regarding the two-way trade between the two nations the Nigerian diplomat regretted that the volume of trade does not reflect the true picture of the relations between Nigeria and Pakistan. He said that there is a great scope for expansion in the two-way trade provided it is promoted on a reciprocal basis.

Identifying the areas of Nigerian interest in Pakistan he said that his country is willing to purchase cement and sugar plants, surgery goods, tractors and agriculture engineering goods from Pakistan.