Spotlight: Entrapment: How Nigerians who exploited loopholes in the system are now trapped

PANAJI

A November 2021 order of the High Court of Bombay at Goa has not just spun a web around Nigerians living illegally in Goa, but also exposed how these same foreigners were earlier exploiting loopholes in the system to roam freely in India.

The order came in a bail application by a Nigerian national. While granting bail, the High Court placed certain conditions, specifically making it mandatory that the accused produce valid travel documents. It is this that has stymied the Nigerians.

“The release of the Applicant shall be subject to production of a valid passport and visa. Since a passport and visa can be applied for online, as informed by the learned Public Prosecutor, the Applicant will have to apply for the same from jail. The Respondent-State authorities shall assist the Applicant. But it is made clear that without producing a valid passport and visa, the Applicant shall not be released on bail,” stated the order that is now applicable to all foreigners who succeed in getting bail.

Ten months later, this order has succeeded in keeping at least 54 Nigerians in jail who cannot comply with these simple conditions though they have been granted bail by the court.

The Public Prosecutor who pushed for the conditions was Advocate Shailendra G Bhobe, who saw that this was the only manner to contain the menace and simultaneously have a correct record of the foreign nationals.

“The idea was to get them into the system, so if a guy goes and returns, he is forever in our system. In this way, once they are in India, they are not on the streets without having a proper identity,” Bhobe said while speaking to The Goan, and further explained, “This will do two things – one those who are on the streets will be forced to carry their passports because they know that once you are caught, it is going to be impossible to come out. Earlier what they were doing is that they were getting caught, coming out on bail, getting caught again, and getting bailed out again. This is the first time they are stuck in jail as most don’t have passports.”

Director General of Police Jaspal Singh said the High Court order acted as a deterrent against those foreigners who enter the State without valid documents.

"To a significant extent, it (the High Court order) has helped, but the drive against those foreigners who enter the State without valid documents has also acted as a deterrent. So far 103 foreigners have been deported which is the highest so far," Director General of Police Jaspal Singh told The Goan.

While most foreigners in Goa comply with all conditions, those who do not possess valid documents have been mainly Nigerians.

“The trouble creators are majorly from African countries. They commit a crime, get arrested, are bailed out soon and continue living in Goa or anywhere in India with that FIR copy which becomes their visa, though, in reality, they don’t possess valid or original passports and visas,” an official said, adding that the High Court order is dealing with the situation with an iron hand.

It has now been learnt that because of this November 2021 order, several Nigerians have been caught in a tight situation, for they don’t have original travel documents. Probably the first time in a decade, 54 Nigerians have been lodged in judicial lock-up for a considerably long time as they can’t produce documents establishing their identity and allowing them to stay in India.

Yet, from within the jail, they still do dare to challenge the authorities by forming groups to threaten other inmates. It is also true that these lawbreakers are having a merry time in jail for all the facilities they have on a platter.

To get a clear picture of how the Nigerians have been exploiting the loopholes, one has to go back nine years ago, when on October 31, 2013, the murder of Nigerian Obodo Uzoma Simon sparked unrest and triggered a diplomatic tussle between Abuja and New Delhi. The Nigerian gang’s open challenge to the Goa Police was when they intercepted and stopped the police van and forcibly took the body out to lay in the middle of the Mapusa-Panaji Highway.

The busy highway that runs through Porvorim soon turned into a violent zone. Over 200 gathered soon thereafter to protest the murder giving a tough time to the police, who were forced to call for extra forces to control the escalating tension.

As many as 52 Africans, including one Uganda national, were arrested only to be bailed out days later. Of these, 34 lacked valid papers. While the trial for the attempted murder case has been going on for six years, over 50 per cent of them were caught for other offences thereafter and bailed out soon.

Sources told The Goan that the local addresses provided by these African nationals turned out to be a headache for the investigating team as they fled to other places.

“Summons issued on their local addresses directing to remain present for investigation returned without any reply. Many haven’t turned up for the trial as well, to date. The court has issued warrants against them but in vain,” the official said.

A total of 189 Nigerians were arrested in Goa from 2010 to 2014, on charges of travel without documents and involvement in drug trafficking, whereas about 40 per cent of foreigners arrested for drug trafficking since 2009 were Nigerians. Since then several hundred arrests of foreigners have been reported for various offences, majorly overstaying, with Nigerians constituting the highest number.

Most of the coastal villages had stopped renting rooms to Nigerians in the aftermath of the October 31, 2013 violence in Goa. But they are back in large numbers living in rented premises owned by locals. The killing of Obado Simeon in Oct 2013 was linked to a turf war with local drug pushers. Being physically bigger, they tend to intimidate locals and Indians.

Nigerians are by and large involved in sourcing cocaine and heroin from Latin America for local distribution. The fresh arrest of a Nigerian by NCB in Goa establishes they are still one of the biggest dealers of narcotics. Some Women are also involved in drug supply, recent arrest was two months ago from the coastal belt. They supply drugs to peddlers in multiple states and have consumers in large numbers.

Then Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar claimed that Nigerian nationals don’t just create problems in Goa, but across the country, too. The BJP government had once admitted that Nigerian students come to Goa and India to study, they get an FIR filed against them, make it a judicial matter and then try to stay in India or Goa and indulge in drugs and other unlawful offences.

Only nine are legally living in Goa (excluding tourist visa which does not require registration with the FRRO).