A 39-year-old Nigerian, Edmund Ezemo, was recently arrested and charged with over 25 fraud related charges.
He is alleged to have purchased high end vehicles and electronic equipment from Toronto area businesses using high quality forged documentation. There is little doubt that he is part of a sophisticated criminal organization.
Since Ezemo originally came to Canada in 1991, he has been ordered deported and sent back to Nigeria a total of eight times. While it is relatively simple to return to this country after having been removed to the United States, Mexico or the Caribbean, his constant and frequent returns from Africa is no mean feat. If he is not now eligible, Ezemo must be close to becoming immortalized in the Guinness Book of Records.
Nigeria has the reputation of being the most corrupt country in the world despite the fact that some Pakistanis insist their country is and merely bribed Nigeria to go first. Either way, there is no doubt that corruption is rampant in that West African country. There is even speculation that the Nigerian government is an active participant in various fraudulent activities and the counterfeiting of documents that contributes to Nigeria’s prominence in fraudulent schemes.
What makes Edmund Ezemo stand out, despite his frequent Atlantic crossings in which the return flight is always paid for by Canadian taxpayers, is that the fraudulent documents he has are of extremely high quality. According to Canada Immigration it is almost impossible to distinguish the passports he uses from the genuine article.
The major problem is not Mr. Ezemo, who will undoubtedly do some jail time, be deported once again, have a little vacation and return under yet another name with another high quality forged passport. The problem is the reaction of the government of Canada to the hard-to-detect documents that Ezemo has been using to enter the country again and again. In typical Canadian fashion, the government whined about the problem. A spokesperson for Canada Immigration spoke about the dual purpose that immigration officers have at a port of entry – to refuse entry to those who are inadmissible but at the same time, facilitate the entry into Canada of those who should be allowed in. What to do.
There is no doubt that facilitating entry into Canada is a major immigration function. Were entry not facilitated, cross border commerce would grind to a halt. Our tourism industry, such as it is, would become nonexistent. But steps could be taken to tackle this particular problem. But as is often the case, political correctness rears its ugly head and the government sighs and essentially says that there is nothing that they can do.
The solution would be to simply bar Nigerians or anyone travelling on Nigerian documents from entering Canada until Canada is satisfied that the people and their documents are legitimate. These documents and the identities of their holders would have to be checked out at Canadian embassies and consulates abroad. And if it takes a lot of time to do this, it takes time. Nigerian citizens who are permanent residents of Canada could be issued travel documents in Canada that would be necessary to present when returning from trips abroad.
Of course if Canada ever did treat Nigerians differently than anyone else, there would be cries of “racial profiling” which of course isn’t true. The problem has to do with the government of Nigeria and not the race of the holders of that government’s passports. But political correctness rules the day and the statement by Canada Immigration is essentially that there is nothing we can do to keep Edmund Ezemo and other like him from entering Canada.
In the general scheme of things, Edmund Ezemo is not a danger to Canada; he is a minor annoyance. But with our current policies, it is only a matter of time before terrorists and others who pose a real danger to this country will be allowed to enter Canada in the same way that Ezemo so easily does. And the Canadian authorities will just shrug. So much for security.
As for Edmund Ezemo, we should just admit that he’s won, grant him citizenship and at least spare the Canadian taxpayers the cost of continually giving him free trips back to his homeland.
