Nigerian gets life ban from the US, posed as engineer

The United States has placed a life ban on one Julius Olawale Oluwagbenro for allegedly lying in his application for an American visa.

Oluwagbenro, 46, had posed as an engineer, among other lies in order to get American Visa.

The suspect, who told newsmen he had thrice been rejected before his fourth attempt got him a life ban, allegedly told the Embassy that he attended the University of Lagos, Akoka where he studied Electrical Electronics.

He was also accused of claiming to have once worked with Procter and Gamble.

Oluwagbenro had also told the Embassy that he was going to the US for the burial of his uncle, who died of cancer in New York.

He then lied that he was presently working with Unilever as an engineer, with a monthly salary of N657,000. Recovered from him are some documents believed to be fake.

One of the documents is a police letterhead, stating that Oluwagbenro had a damaged passport and that the Embassy should, “kindly render any assistance he may require”.

Another document is a First Bank statement, showing that Oluwagbenro had N6.2 million in his account. The item which, however, nailed Oluwagbenro was the phone number of the contact person he was supposed to meet in America.

The Embassy discovered that the phone number of the contact person had been used for over 190 applicants. While Oluwagbenro’s documents showed that the contact person lives in Brooklyn, New York, the owner of the number lives in Chicago.

In an interview, Oluwagbenro said: “The truth is that I wasn’t the person that filled my visa form. My agent did. I was not even aware of most of the information he filled on the form. I sell cars in Ibadan.”