Not an uncommon scam even outside airports.
Some time ago in a Nairobi café, I had three very earnest young men tell me they were refugees from Idi Amin's Uganda illegally in Kenya and they desperately needed help to go to family in Tanzania.
I asked them if Yoweri Museveni hadn't been elected recently, and why didn't they just take a matatu to Namanga and walk across the border?
Old scam; airports just offer up greater numbers of potential sheep to fleece and a more appropriate venue.