How Ex-Foreign Affairs Minister, Walli, Ex-Immigration CG, Parradang Refused Proposal To Create System For Biometric Visa Issuance
A Radical Lebanese Islamic cleric, Ahmad Al-Assir, was recently arrested as he attempted travelling to Nigeria; the wanted Lebanese terrorist got an entry visa into Nigeria because Nigerian embassies do not capture applicants’ biometric data.
Biometrics covers an assortment of inimitable individual features of people that include, fingerprint, iris print, hand, face, voice, gait or signatures and are used for identification and authentication.
But documents available to this medium, indicates that such incident like the case of Ahmad Al-Assir, would have been prevented or even wouldn’t have occurred, if the measures brought to them were carried out or followed.
Universalreporters247.com investigations reveal that an organisation with the name BIOMETRIX an international organisation with presence in many continents of the world including Asia, Europe, Africa, with its Nigeria’s country office in Asokoro Abuja, made efforts within Nigerian authorities both at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also the Nigeria Immigration Service for the need to provide the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a Secured Online and real time system for a biometric visa issuance.
In a letter dated 12th March 2014, with reference number FMF/ABJ/001/12314 addressed the then Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambasasdor Aminu Bashir Wali to provide the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a Secure Online and real time system for a biometric visa issuance.
In the proposal letter titled; Proposal for providing a secure system for biometric visa under a full B.O.T or concession agreement stated thus; “we are at Biometrix, herewith propose to your honourable Ministry with our technical partners introduce our extensive backbone in providing different enrolment visa projects in the African continent, some of our references such as the DRC, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Gabon, Benin, Togo, Chad, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea.”
“Please find herewith our proposal to provide the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a Secure Online and real-time system for a biometric visa issuance, in addition to that we shall supply install enrol produce in all your Embassies, Consulates, High Commissions, Federal Airports and Key major boarder Entries, all the system at no cost to the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the letter read thus.
According to the letter, the Turnkey project on a BOT or Concession based agreement for a proposed number of years to be agreed upon by both parties.
In another instance, BIOMETRIX in another proposal forwarded the Comptroller General, Nigerian Immigration Services, dated March 15 2015 with reference number, NIS/BISA/EBV/001 also requested to provide the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a Secure Online and real time system for a biometric visa issuance.
In the letter written to the former Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Services, David Parradang by BIOMETRIX stated thus; “we at Biometrix Intel Systems Africa Ltd hereby respectfully aspire to introduce to your good office, our organisation and technical partners, who are industrially proficient with extensive years of providing different enrolment visa projects solutions, systems implementations, running and maintaining structures in the Africa continent, some of our references such as the DRC, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Gabon, Benin, Togo, Chad, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea.”
According Biometrix it said the Proposal is 100% funded project by Biometrix Intel Systems Africa Ltd under a concession sharing scheme for the introduction, production, provision and implementation of collectively maintaining a security biometric visa issuance sticker and a data base bank of issuance and rejections for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“in addition to that we shall supply install enrol produce in all your Embassies, Consulates, High Commissions, Federal Airports and Key major boarder Entries, all the system at no cost to the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the letter read thus.
Meanwhile, according to the Country Director of Biometrix Ronaldo Minaise while speaking to this medium soon after the issue of the Nigerian visa granted to a radical Lebanese Islamic cleric, Ahmad Al-Assir, who was recently arrested as he attempted travelling to Nigeria; the wanted Lebanese terrorist got an entry visa into Nigeria because Nigerian embassies do not capture applicants’ biometric data, Minaise said; “Biometric visa system covers a variety of unique identifiable attributes of people including fingerprints, iris print, hand, face, voice, gait or signatures, and are used for identification and authentication. There was no way Ahmad Al Assir could have obtained Nigerian visa without being detected? This is in spite of the surgery he undergoes to alter his facial identity and iris changes,” he said.
Speaking further he said; “These two letters showed were what I forwarded to both the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Nigeria Immigration Service, to built this project at no cost, but they all rebuffed. I can tell you that if this project were approved this issue of Ahmad Al-Assir having a valid Nigerian visa without being detected wouldn’t have arise.”
When asked if there are records of their work elsewhere, he said the two letters explains that, as he said; go to DRC, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Gabon, Benin, Togo, Chad, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gambia and Guinea, they will tell you what we have done for them.
Moreso, he said the new government if they are interested on the project, that Biometrix are still ready to partner and work with Nigeria in this regard.
It will be recalled that just recently, Mr. Al-Assir, a radical Muslim cleric, was arrested on August 15, after he was caught trying to find his way into Nigeria through Cairo, Egypt, with a fake Palestinian passport and a valid Nigerian visa at the Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport in Lebanon.
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into how the wanted terrorist was able to obtain a valid Nigerian visa.
