Why do nigerians lie about their age

The likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta came through the youth teams. You can track their career all the way through. The wrong players are being given the platform. Not that this a new problem. Fifa banned Nigeria external-link from all international fixtures for two years after finding that the birth dates of three of their players in the Olympics were different from ones used by the same players in previous tournaments.

In , Kenya's national Under team was dissolved by the government after some players admitted to being over age. Brazil won the World Youth Cup - for players of 20 and under - with a team that included a year-old. Three years after their success, it was revealed that defensive midfielder Carlos Alberto had given the wrong age.

Cases like this not unfamiliar in other South American countries. Akpoborie said: "It isn't just in Africa, I am sure. You know there have been problems in South America but you also know the problem in Africa is really big.

There are not many places in the world where it is so easy as it is in Africa. Efforts are being made to stop it. In November , Australia and Saudi Arabia lodged official complaints over suspicions that the Syrian Under team, competing at the Asian Championships, included over-age players. He said: "A few days before the competition began, we were provided with the registration list and the Syrian team featured six players born on 1 January 1 - the last day you could be born to be eligible.

The whole team had January birth dates. So what could the reasons be for players pretending to be younger than they are? African football journalist Oluwashina Okeleji cites personal ambition, pressure for success and ease in falsifying your age as factors for it. However, the manager of one centre for minors in Sicily said that many migrants thought to be between the age of 18 and 21 are saying that they are only 16 or 17, knowing that under Italian law they cannot be repatriated.

Subscription Notification. We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Please update your billing details here. Please update your billing information. The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. The Nigerian criminals were living large for local standards, both at home in Nigeria and in South Africa, where many of the students were living on student visas. At the same time, victims in the U. Others faced financial ruin.

The crime ring was brought to justice. Investigators worked with South Africa and Canada to extradite those responsible. Twelve pleaded guilty and were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. Three were found guilty at trial and received sentences of up to years in prison.

Four defendants remain fugitives, with three last known to be in Nigeria. Because they've been making money hand over fist with relatively little risk to themselves," Nunnikhoven said. While other West African crime rings exist and often use these romance ploys, this ring also had two scams that were unique, one involving college textbooks, the other prepaid credit cards.

So essentially these textbooks companies were getting the merchandise stolen from 'em. And in the end, they were spending their own money to purchase their own merchandise back," said Todd Williams, the Homeland Security agent. As the crime ring operated, they began to get more sophisticated and relied on prepaid cards to move money, instead of e-mules.

Once they were able to acquire those accounts, that in turn would become their infrastructure that they needed to be able to move their illicit proceeds," said Todd Williams. So, what the criminals try to do instead of hook you with that relative that needs help or that Nigerian prince, what they're now doing is trying to spoof the CEO to the CFO," Nunnikhoven said.

So, the criminals can easily pretend to be one of these companies. Unlike cybercriminals in Eastern Europe and Asia, West African criminals tend to have less technical expertise.

Instead, they use mind games.