A group of Africans, apparently scammed by one of their own, is desperate to recover their money.
Reports indicate that the man allegedly tricked a group of about twenty people into giving him money under the pretense that he would obtain airline tickets for them on a charter flight back to Africa.
After some time had passed, the man failed to provide the tickets or issue a refund, which roused the suspicion of his countrymen who began to suspect that they may have been duped.
The victims reported the man, whose address has been given as Dickenson Bay, to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda.
After an initial investigation, the fake businessman was arrested, however he has not yet been charged by police.
On Thursday afternoon, more than a dozen visibly worried African men and women stood sentry outside St. John’s Police Station.
It is believed that they were awaiting an update from law enforcement officers about whether they would be able to recoup their money.
Meanwhile, a decision on the future of the approximately 800 Africans who have been stranded in Antigua and Barbuda is pending.
With the operations of Antigua Airways suspended and a civil war raging in Cameroon where some of them originated, Information Minister Melford Nicholas says the way forward in deciding their fate in Antigua and Barbuda will be based on the findings of a report that is to be submitted to Attorney General and Minister of Labour and Immigration, Steadroy Benjamin.
“I would expect that that will be a part of the report that the minister of labour is awaiting that will be on his desk tomorrow [Friday].
“It was a contingent part of the obligation that we gave to the minister of labour and of immigration, to look at both the matter relating to the CARICOM citizens and their work permit and to help the cabinet to define a legal method of absorbing these persons, given the criteria we had established.
“For those [Africans] who want to leave, we will make arrangements for them to go back to their home country, or for those who choose to stay, we are awaiting the report from the Ministry of Labour and Immigration,” Nicholas said.
The information minister added that the principals of Antigua Airways have confirmed, “that they will be prepared to fund the extraction aircraft”.
When this flight will leave St. John’s for the African continent, however, is unknown.
