Paternity fra¥d: UK court overturns ruling blocking deportation of Nigerian ex-convict

The United Kingdom’s Upper Tribunal has overturned a court ruling that had blocked the deportation of 43-year-old Nigerian Olutobi Ogunbawo.

The decision to deport Ogunbawo followed a court’s rejection of claims by his wife, Maria Adesanya, that in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment was unavailable in Nigeria, DailyMail reports.

Ogunbawo had been convicted in 2019 for immigration offences related to conspiring with a British citizen to falsely claim paternity and subsequently served a three-year prison sentence.

After his release, Ogunbawo became subject to deportation proceedings. In January 2023, a first-tier tribunal judge ruled in his favour, citing concerns over the potential impact of his deportation on Maria’s ability to conceive through IVF, a treatment she claimed was inaccessible in Nigeria.

However, the Secretary of State for the Home Department contested this decision, arguing that Maria’s testimony lacked sufficient supporting evidence. The Upper Tribunal later reviewed the case and, on November 4, 2024, deemed the initial ruling flawed. The tribunal found that the first-tier tribunal judge had failed to gather objective evidence to verify Maria’s claim.

The judgment criticised the initial decision, stating: “We conclude that the judge erred in exclusively relying upon Ms A’s (referring to Maria) personal evidence when finding as a fact that IVF treatment is unavailable in Nigeria.

We observe the Secretary of State’s unchallenged assertion before us that even the most basic Google search reveals the existence of IVF treatment in Nigeria.

The Secretary of State’s appeal is allowed to the extent that the decision of the First-tier Tribunal is set aside in its entirety. The appeal is to be remitted to the First-tier Tribunal to be heard by any judge other than First-tier Tribunal Judge Malone.”

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