Nigerians has been left stranded in the United Kingdom after paying agents huge amounts of money for job opportunity that do not actually exist.
A Nigerian woman, Blessing, whose name has been changed to protect her identity has narrated how she ended up begging for food in the UK.
She told the UK broadcaster, Sky News that she was scammed by an agent to whom she paid £10,000 (N11.6 million) for a skilled worker visa.
According to her, her life were shattered after she discovered the promised job do not exist.
Blessing said, “It makes me feel as though I’m a fool,” Sky News quoted her as saying. “I would have done it myself but there are so many frauds on the internet [in Nigeria] you don’t know what’s real.
I’ve always provided for myself. I’m a very hard-working, diligent person. So for me to be here depending on people to eat, coming to the food bank to get food, isn’t ok with me.
“There are so many. Dozens. I met a lot here and so many are still coming after I’ve come. There’s a big scam going on.”
Report showed “how the skilled worker visa system is being abused, with middlemen allegedly being paid huge sums of money to arrange jobs in the UK as carers that do not exist. Many of those who can’t get work are struggling to survive, turning to food banks and even sleeping rough.”
The founder of the Nigerian Community Centre in Rochdale, Mary Adekugbe, says those on skilled worker visas now needing support is a big issue that is increasing her workload.
She said, “About 15 of the 35–40 people who generally come to the weekly food bank have skilled worker visas. We are overwhelmed. People are desperate. It’s so worrying.”
Also, a community volunteer, Jones Adekube, lamented the situation of another homeless lady who was too shy to speak with the correspondent.
“Last week we gave her bread and tuna because that’s what she can eat easily without cooking or warming.
“She did some work when she came in. Initially, they gave her one shift a week, which is 12 hours a week. As time went on, there were no shifts,” he said.
