Britain’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Pocock, says no final decision has been taken by his country’s government on the £3,000 visa bond for Nigerians, the news of which has stoked anger among Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora.

“The details of a pilot scheme are still being worked out. No final decision has been made,” Mr. Pocock said yesterday in a statement issued in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, after a meeting with Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru.

In the statement signed by Rob Fitzpatrick, Head of Press and Public Affairs Section of the British High Commission in Abuja, Pocock described the proposed bond as “a very small scale trial of the use of financial bonds as a way of tackling abuse in the immigration system, which occurs when some people overstay their visa terms.”

According to him, “If the pilot were to go ahead in Nigeria it would affect only a very small number of the highest risk visitors. The vast majority would not be required to pay a bond. Those paying bonds would receive the bond back, if they abided by the terms of their visa.”

Mr. Pocock disclosed that more than 180,000 Nigerians apply to visit the UK each year, out of which about 70% or around 125,000 are successful.

“Travel between our two countries is a key part of our strong cultural and business relationship. Financial bonds would be focussed on only a tiny minority of potential abusers. It would NOT be a ‘£3,000 visa charge’ as some media reporting has alleged,” he said.

The British High Commissioner promised to make available to the Nigerian government “more details of the policy” when decided “in the spirit of our long standing friendship, and our wish to help bona fide Nigerian visitors to work, study or do business in the United Kingdom.”

Ambassador Ashiru, who had summoned the British High Commissioner over the issue, described the proposed visa policy as “as not only discriminatory but also capable of undermining the spirit of the Commonwealth family.”

He made it clear that the Nigerian Government “has a responsibility to take appropriate measures to protect the interest of Nigerians who may be affected by the proposed policy, if finally introduced.”

As reported yesterday by News Express and some other media, a spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Abuja, Mr. Ode Ogbole, had had on Monday claimed that the decision had been rescinded by the British Government. This, however, appears not to be the case.

Under the proposed policy leaked by The Sunday Times of London, visitors to Britain aged 18 and above would from November this year be forced to pay over £3,000 (about N750,000) as a sort of caution fee for a six-month visit visa. The money is to be forfeited by a visitor who remains in Britain after his or her visa expires.

•Photo: British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Andrew Pocock.