Since the Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab failed
underwear bomb attack
on North West Delta
Airline in Detroit on
December 25, 2009, the
United States has adopted
stringent measures to on
its visa issuance
procedures and policy,
thereby making it a
matter of providence to
gain access to the
document.
Notable among tough
measures were the
introduction of the
Consular Lookout and
Support System, CLASS,
and the State Department
controlled Terrorist
Identities Datamart
Environment, TIDE, and
other technology assisted
method of cross checking
the background identities
and profile of the
prospective visa applicants
to determine if there are
incriminating information
about such applicants.
According to a source:
"These databases allow a
number of U.S.
government agencies to
make input into the back
ground check on visa
applicants and decision on
the visa issuance process".
For instance, CLASS is tied
into the Interagency
Border Inspection System,
IBIS. The US has also
introduced what is called
the Diplomatic Security
Service, DSS, which is
charged with identifying
documentation fraud, such
as cases of stolen
identities, tampering with
US passport, false
declarations etc. Vanguard
learnt that agents have
since been has long
assigned to Nigeria to
investigate cases of
passport and visa fraud.
The source added: "The
idea of sending DSS to
Nigeria came after the
Abdulmutallab episode; of
course, one of the charges
preferred against him was
that he conspired with
other people at large to
come into America to kill
Americans, so if you want
to come to the US to
become a threat to its
citizens, the best thing
would be to stop you in
your country."
President Obama was very
upset and embarrassed
that the Abdulmutallab
incident that on U.S.
January 7, 2010. He
outlined a set of new
policies in response to the
Abdulmutallab incident as
the Department of
Homeland Securities had
to tighten things up a bit
and unfortunately, it is the
innocent people that are
bearing the brunt.
Before the January
reforms, the US had
introduced what it called
the "Intelligence Reform
and Terrorism Prevention
Act of 2004," under which
the Congress ordered the
State Department to
establish a visa and
passport security
programme in its missions
abroad including Nigeria
which was singled out for
special attention as far
back as 2006 and later
declared as a country of
interest in terrorist
activities in 2009.
With the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004,
the Congress equally
mandated the State
Department to establish a
visa and passport security
programmers overseas.
Diplomatic community
On assumption of office
the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mr. Olugbenga
Ashiru, had told members
of the diplomatic
community that Nigeria
will observe the principle
of reciprocity in the
conduct of foreign policy
and diplomatic practice,
but efforts to speak with
the Minister and the
Ministry was frustrated
when officials of the
Ministry resorted to the
well known red tape to
avoid the media, even in
the era of FOIA.
An official of the Ministry
told Vanguard that
government official the
lack of political will to
make good their threats
and boasts when it comes
defending the interest of
the country and its
citizens, especially when
these countries threaten
to expose them.
Vanguard learnt that the
Minister specifically
instructed officials of the
Ministry to frustrate all
media enquiries by
requesting that it must be
formally written and
directed to the Minister;
thereafter the letter is
tossed around until it ends
up in the morgue called
research and
documentation.
The adoption of this
tactics by the Ministry is
likened to pre-1914 era
when diplomatic practice
was shrouded in secrecy.
This is anathema to the
Wilson Woodrow doctrine
of open diplomacy which
is in tandem with
democratic practice.
It is the method reserved
for such secretive states
like North Korea and failed
Soviet Union.
Sources said "the
increased presence of DHS
officers at Consular posts
has increased cost of
personnel and
administration of visa in
Nigeria and it is doubtful
prevent people who want
to commit malevolent acts
in the United States."
Diplomatic sources said
that "the problem in the
Abdulmutallab case was
not in the issuance of his
visa in 2004 but borne out
of bungling of intelligence
when the CIA mishandled
the interview of
Abdulmutallab's father
when he walked into the
embassy in November
2009 to report that his
son had become
radicalized and that he
feared his son was
preparing for a suicide
mission."
The source said "the CIA
did not share the
information gleaned from
that interview in a
terrorism report cable
(TERREP) and there was no
follow up, so why should
the Americans want to
punish Nigerians for the
ineptitude of their security
agencies?"
The adding of another
layer of DHS involvement
in overseeing visa issuance
and investigating visa
fraud at diplomatic posts
abroad is simply not going
to assist in the flow of
information in visa cases,
whether criminal or
terrorist in nature, rather,
having another U.S. law
enforcement agency
interfacing with the host
country police and security
agencies regarding visa
matters will only serve to
cause confusion and
hamper efficient
information flow"
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