A Nigerian man, Olufemi Ojaleye, has won his appeal against deportation following his seven-year imprisonment for fraud in the United Kingdom.
Ojaleye was convicted of stealing COVID bounce loans initiated in 2020 to help small and medium-sized enterprises between £2,000 and £50,000 at a low interest rate.
The Upper Tier Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber was told that the Nigerian national played “a leading role in a sophisticated fraud” which saw him profiting from the COVID-related Bounce Back loan scheme.
The UK Home Office decided to deport him to Nigeria after he served seven years in jail, but he appealed the move in the UK and won.
PUNCH Diaspora Tales learned that his appeal was approved because his two children had autism.
His lawyers claimed deporting him to Nigeria would have “unduly harsh consequences for his children.” They added that the children had “very significant additional needs.”
The UTT heard a statement from the specialist school attended by his children, which said their autism impacts “every aspect of [their] daily life” and they “need support with even the smallest tasks such as dressing, eating, and toileting.”
Ojaleye’s legal victory was the second reported case in a month where Nigerians leveraged human rights grounds to win deportations appeals in the UK.
It was reported last month that a Nigerian, Emmanuel Jack, also recorded a similar feat after defrauding women of £200,000 in romance scams.
Jack served eight years in prison but avoided deportation brought against him because his British wife and children were suffering from complicated and serious medical issues.(punch)
