A Nigerian migrant was granted asylum after joining terrorist group. (Image: Getty)
A Nigerian woman was finally granted the right to stay in the UK after trying and failing eight times. Following her arrival to Britain in 2011, she joined a terrorist organisation to enhance her claim where her application was then successfully approved.
The 49-year-old was allowed to stay in Britain despite the judge acknowledging that she was not being honest about her political beliefs. The judge said that she had only become involved with the terrorist group “in order to create a claim for asylum”.
The woman joined the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in 2017, a separatist group accused of acts of violence against the Nigerian state.
Although the group is not proscribed in the UK, it has been banned as a terrorist organisation in the African country.
During the trial, Judge Gemma Loughran ruled that the woman’s undertakings for the group meant she had a “well-founded fear of persecution” under human rights laws due to her “imputed” political opinion, reported.
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The Nigerian government issued crackdowns on the organisation in 2021. (Image: Getty)
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, labelled the case as “patently absurd”.
“This shows judges are inventing new and comically ludicrous interpretations of vague European Convention on Human Rights’ (ECHR) articles in order to allow foreign criminals and illegal immigrants to stay in the country,” he told the Telegraph.
“This is an abuse of the power judges have been given.
“It is clear to me that a radical overhaul of human rights law is needed in order to end this abuse by the judiciary – who have taken for themselves what amounts to legislative powers.”
The Nigerian woman’s initial eight appeals against her rejection to remain in the UK spanned over 10 years. These were for a range of reasons, from a right to family life to a claim she was a victim of trafficking.
Her ninth and successful appeal saw her argue she would face persecution if she returned to Nigeria due to her involvement with IPOB, having attended rallies, protests and campaigns. She said members were photographed and potentially captured on CCTV.
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The group has been banned as a terrorist organisation in Nigeria. (Image: Getty)
The court heard that she feared being arrested upon arrival to Nigeria due to a government crackdown on the organisation in 2021, which saw 115 people killed.
The lower tribunal judge, Iain Burnett, rejected her claim at first due to a lack of evidence about her involvement with the group, finding that she only became involved “in order to create a claim for asylum”.
However, upper tribunal judge Ms Loughran overturned this decision, despite agreeing with the fact her involvement was “in order to create a claim for asylum and that it does not represent a true reflection of her genuinely held political views”.