Adepoju made the revelations while sharing details of how he was arrested, harassed and tortured by immigration officers in Kenya.
Nigerian businessman, James Adepoju has accused the Nigerian Embassy in Kenya of being manipulated and using a man identified as Celestine to haunt successful Nigerians in the East African country.
Adepoju made the revelations while sharing details of how he was arrested, harassed and tortured by immigration officers in Kenya.
According to him, they threatened to deport him if he refused to pay them.
The businessman who said he has properties worth millions of naira in Kenya, noted that his house was searched upside down without any warrant on March 19.
He accused the country’s security personnel of accessing his phone and stealing his money.
Adepoju explained that while being tortured in Kenya, he was able to call the Nigerian Embassy in the country and all they said was that he should contact Celestine and do what he asked.
He said, "My visa was extended on the 13th of March 2024 for two months. On the 19th, I was mishandled by the same immigration asking for ransom or to get deported. My house was searched upside down without any warrant.
"They took my phone and my passport, seized me from all communication and condemned me to torture. They pressed my testicles and forced me to send money out after forcefully taking me to Nyayo house at their office.”
Nyayo House is a skyscraper that hosts several government departments such as immigration (the State Department for Immigration, Border Control, and Regulation of Persons) and also serves as the headquarters of Nairobi Province.
The Nigerian businessman continued, "They handcuffed me backwards until my hands started bleeding. I was thrown on the floor in Nyayo house basement there they started torturing me – three men in suits and four officers in uniform.
"They transported me at night with a private van and took me to an undisclosed police station while my lawyer and my wife were chased at the 17th floor without informing them about my whereabouts. I was ordered not to be given water or food until I was ready to cooperate.
"I managed after four days in the cell to communicate with my people and they came to see me.
"Once they realised that I had managed to communicate, they transferred me to another horrible police station where faeces were all over. It's just like a pit. At both police stations, there was no single charge.
"I was helped to call the Nigerian Embassy and all they said was to contact Celestine and abide by what they asked for. I called the embassy directly with my number so there is a record of their conversation. The Nigerian Embassy in Kenya has been manipulated and using Celestine to haunt successful Nigerians for their own greed.
"Yesterday, there was a ruling from the High Court to present me before the judge but the bad officers took me for deportation instead. They opened my phone, stole my money, opened my flying ticket without my consent and wanted to illegally deport me so that I wouldn't appear in a court of law.
"When handing over my phones to me, there was no single SIM card inside. They had removed all my SIM cards so that I wouldn't be able to communicate until I got deported. At the last stage of entering the deportation plane, God showed up with the help of another woman from the United Nations. I got my line renewed at the airport and lodged in a safe and sound undisclosed hotel. I have properties worth millions in Kenya."
They also accused the government of Kenya of being behind the enforced disappearances of Nigerian nationals, adding that in one month, four Nigerians disappeared without a trace.
In July 2022, a Nigerian went missing without any trace, they said.
A Nigerian who spoke with our correspondent from Kenya described the condition Nigerians in the country were subjected to by Kenya police as unimaginable.
He asked President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to intervene before it got too late.
"I feel the Federal Government should weigh into this matter to save the lives of young Nigerians who are regularly brutalised and killed by the Kenyan police," he said.
"I am presently in Nairobi, Kenya. On one of my visits to the Nigeria High Commission, I met a young Nigerian who drew my attention to the atrocities committed against Nigerians in Kenya. I did a little digging and noticed that the case is quite pathetic.
"The victim who is in hiding for his dear life has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs back home. Nothing was done until recently when we heard that steps were being taken on the matter.
"The killing of Nigerians in Kenya, based on my records, didn't start today. In 2018, just in a month, we lost four Nigerians to extrajudicial killings in Kenya."
The source further noted that the situation had become a regular occurrence, adding, "Last month, there was an enforced disappearance of a Nigerian promising young man. I strongly believe that the Kenya Police is behind these atrocities and a thorough investigation must be done to fish out the officers involved.”