Nigerians held in UK for marriage, immigration fraud

Ten Nigerians have been arrested by the United Kingdom Border Agency for alleged involvement in sham marriages and immigration fraud in the past few months, according to a statement by the British High commission, Abuja.

The statement said special operations by the UKBA had led to the arrest of over 200 foreign nationals, noting that those found guilty would be jailed and deported.

The statement said British courts had handed out jail sentences totalling over 12 years to Nigerians arrested in these operations.

The high commission said, “On December 6, Tunde Ayammiyi, 50, and Bukola Arinkanmile, 28, were sentenced to 20 months and three years respectively for conspiring to break immigration laws. Victoria Adesola, 34, was jailed for two years for her involvement in sham marriage.

“Two fake grooms, Olarotimi Ojugbele, 41, and Idowu Komolafe, 34, were also jailed for 21 months each for their roles in sham marriages. In Belfast, Patrick Ozegebe, 34, was jailed for six months for trying to open a bank account with a false Nigerian passport.

Nigerians arrested in UK over 'arrangee' weddings!!!

It was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. But instead of walking down the aisle with bouquets of flowers in their hands, two brides and their grooms were handcuffed and taken to a police station.

The grooms, whose identities have not been disclosed, are Nigerians, who engaged their Slovakian brides in a desperate bid to live in the United Kingdom (UK).

Their arrests were part of a coordinated operation to curb an international marriage scam. Such bogus marriages allow immigrants to stay in the UK.

If found guilty, the suspects could be sentenced to seven-year jail terms.

A combined team of police and immigration officers raided two homes and arrested the Slovakian brides and Nigerian grooms before they arrived at churches on Tuesday.

According to the Mail Online, four other men from Nigeria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, who are believed to be making up to £15,000 per sham wedding, were also arrested.

It was learnt that six Nigerian men were also being detained on suspected Immigration offences.

The arrests were centred around two gangs in Manchester and Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Immigration officers waited until the Nigerian gang members drove from Manchester to Bradford before their arrests in a fuel station, just hours before the two weddings were to take place.

Detective Sergeant Peter Gallagher, who led the operation, said: “We believe we have cracked an organised conspiracy in which marriage fixers and European brides were making money from Nigerian grooms desperate to find a way to stay in the UK.”

The churches, believed to have been targeted by the gangs are: St Philip and St James in Scholes, South Yorkshire, and St Lukes in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

UK Border Agency regional director, Jeremy Oppenheim said: “We will not tolerate Immigration abuse and will punish those who break the Immigration laws.

“Over recent years, we have clamped down on sham marriages introducing Certificates of Approval, family permits and encouraged registrars to highlight suspicious cases.

“That’s why suspected sham marriages fell from over 3,500 in 2004 to under 400 in 2008. Under the tougher rules, anyone trying to play the system can expect to face imprisonment for up to seven years.”

The arrest came on the heels of the arraignment of a vicar over alleged conspiracy to aid unlawful entry to the UK by helping to organise more than 180 ‘sham’ weddings for illegal immigrants earlier this month.

Reverend Alex Brown, 60, was arrested in a dawn raid on his rectory home in St Leonards, East Sussex, and his church, St Peters, 200 yards away.

He was accused of holding a ‘conveyor belt’ of services to allow African and Eastern European immigrants from outside the European Union (EU) to marry those with the right to stay in the UK.

When migrants complete bogus marriages, they can remain in Britain and move freely within the EU.

Those with residency rights in the UK, often from other EU countries, are paid up to £2,000 a time to take part in the sham weddings.

Labour toughened marriage laws in February 2005 after the number of suspect ceremonies - often arranged by criminal gangs who could earn £10,000 a time - reached 3,700 per year.

Migrants were made to get a special certificate to marry if they lived outside the EU, or had only limited rights to live in the UK.

Those with only three months’ leave to remain were routinely refused on the grounds that the ceremony was performed just to avoid removal from the country.

The number of sham weddings has since fallen to around 300 a year. But the crackdown was left in tatters after the Law Lords ruled it breaches migrants’ human rights.

According to Law Lords, “forcing a migrant to prove whether a relationship is genuine is arbitrary and unjust,” even if they were getting married only weeks before their permission to stay in Britain ran out.

Sound Sultan, Baba Dee at loggerheads!!!!

The famous Lanre Fasasi popularly known as Sound Sultan is one outstanding artiste that is known to be cool in what he says or do.

It’s no longer news that Sound Sultan is the younger brother of Dare Fasasi who is referred to as Baba Dee who has decided to be quite musically due to reasons best known to him.Exclusive reports has it that Lanre’s babe is expecting a child and the lady in question is from the Igbo extraction, on this note, Baba Dee has put up a quarrel with his younger brother because he doesn’t want anything to do with the Igbo lady who he said looks like a gold-digger to him.Are we now saying Baba Dee not a liberal person considering the fact that his music is listened to by all the tribes, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Urhobo, Ibibio, Ijaw name it? We tried to enquire from one of his aides “Not that he’s ‘tribalistic’, it’s like he doesn’t totally support Chichi to be the mother of his brother’s first son, to him, he says Chichi looks like a gold-digger who is full of pretense…..”

Find condom in your man’s pocket?

Segun was in Abuja for a three-day official assignment. As he was unpacking his bag at his hotel, he found two packs of condom hidden in his luggage. He knew he did not put it there. It was the handiwork of his wife who does not want to take chances with the health of her spouse.

Many women are coming to terms with the reality of their men probably having an affair or an occasional fling. We sought the opinion of some of them if, by accident, they find condom in their man’s pocket. Their responses:

ODESOLA ABOSEDE
There is nothing I can say. Of course I will be happy to find a condom in his pocket, knowing that he is being careful not to impregnate another woman or infect me with diseases. But I rather would advice him to be careful when keeping a relationship outside marriage. This, I understand happens because some men don’t want to make their wives sex machines, so they go out to satisfy their sexual urge from other ladies or women who have the energy and strength to meet their demands. So, I will always advice him to use condom whenever he is hanging out with other ladies. There is no problem finding a condom in his pocket because it makes me safe with him

MRS. EBOTIE LUCY
For me, if peradventure I find condom in my husband’s pocket, I won’t take it up with him violently. No. All I need is some explanations. Yes, explanations on where and how he got it and where he uses it. If his explanation is convincing enough, I might overlook it. But if he sounds incoherent, I would not take it lightly with him. I simply will conclude he is cheating on me and that could infect me with diseases.
I remain with him on the condition that sex will be out of our lives to be on the safe side, condom or no condom.

.MRS. JONES
I would do is ask him if he was given at a seminar or in the office. But if he did not get it in either of these places, I will only advice him to be extra careful in his affairs with other women.

DAMMY JOSEPH
Definitely I won’t be happy because it shows he is not being faithful to me. In other words, it shows that he is cheating on me. But on the other hand, I will be happy because at least he is protecting himself from deadly diseases and unwanted pregnancy.
No man is an exemption to extra-marital affair. It is their nature to cheat on their wives, no matter how beautiful and respectful their wives might be, they still look out. It is only God that could change this nature of theirs.

MRS. KENNY
I trust my husband, so I would not think negatively of him for he cannot cheat on me.
The fact that I found a condom in his pocket does not put it that he is unfaithful to me. It could be that he was given by these health safety awareness officials.

OSASONA DUPE
I will not hold issues against him because he must have been given at a seminar or health conference. On the other hand, he might buy it for safety purpose. But if I noticed he was hiding it from me, I would ask him and his response would determine my reaction towards him.

MRS. GEMBA RABIAT
As for me, my husband does not sleep out because I know him that much, but for other women I may not know. If I find condom in his pocket, I will ask him how he came about it before I get annoyed. One, some offices share condoms, while sometimes it is shared in seminars or when they have some awareness programmes on how to prevent unwanted diseases or unwanted pregnancies.
His reactions would show whether he is faithful or not and I will not ask him again in order to avoid more terrible consequences.

CYNTHIA NDIANAEFO
We shouldn’t be jumping at conclusions. Finding condom in his pocket does not mean there is something fishy, no.
Definitely, I will feel bad in the sense that I will feel perhaps; I was not satisfying him enough. If he tells me I’m not treating him well, I definitely will adjust because no one is perfect.
Nevertheless, there are men that cannot be satisfied with just one woman. These categories of men, I would say, have reasons behind their behavior. Moreover, I will not quarrel with him, but will make him my best friend in order to know his weak points and know how to handle the ugly situation.

MRS MARY SIMEON
Condom is a package used for sexual protection. Some organizations distribute condoms to its staff. It might be given to him in the office or at a seminar. Aside these, should I find a condom in my husband’s pocket, I will feel cheated, though it will not make me get mad at him. As a responsible and learned person, I will ask him first, and if he gives a genuine reason then I’ll for it.
I will take up the case prayerfully so it would not get out of hands because despite the love that brought us together, men will always be men.

MRS PEACE DANIEL
I would first want to know how he came about the condom, because sometimes it’s is distributed in either the office or at seminars. Finally, as husband and wife, we need to believe in each other. So I will believe in whatever he tells me.

HANNAH N WAGUZOR
It depends on the individual. If find a condom in his pocket, the first thing I will do is make enquiry how he got it, but in a soft manner that would not stir up trouble.
If you take it up in a fight and it turns out that he is innocent, it might cause him to do what you are accusing him of. If he is guilty, I would ask him where I had gone wrong or lacking so I can fix things, because if a man cannot see your value as a wife, abusing the marriage is inevitable. So, as a virtuous woman, I have to make him, help him; stand by him, even in his mistakes.

Tuface Idibia set to wed his African Queen

Sensational R&B singer, and arguably Nigeria’s finest, Tuface Idibia, recently disclosed to the press his intentions to settle down.

Tuface also stated that although some of his fans may feel bad about some of his excesses(his baby making spree that is) he wants y’all to know he’s only human.

“I know people’s expectation of me is obviously not having kids from different women. But the fact is that I love my kids, and I’m just going to take care of them. I’m going to turn whatsoever bad situation to a positive one.” he says.

Although Tuface would not disclose who the lucky lady he is ready to settle down with is, the r&b singer affirmed that he would tie the knot formally in 2009 and raise a family the right way.

Who is this mystery lady? could it be his longtime sweetheart Anne Macaulay, or maybe his baby mama of two, Pero Adeniyi? [we gather that Pero and Tuface have settled their differences as they gathered friends and family members to the dedication of their newborn son, Justin Agaba Oluwafemi Idibia on Sunday 7 December 2008].0r could she be someone he met recently in some distant land? I’ll keep you posted.