International

Four Nigerians jailed in UK for forging 2,000 marriage documents

Published

3 weeks ago

August 28, 2024

Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade, Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo, Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi, and Adekunle Kabir

Four Nigerians jailed in UK for forging 2,000 marriage documents

Four Nigerians have been jailed after forging more than 2,000 marriage certificates to help people live in the United Kingdom illegally.

Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade, 41, Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo, 38, Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi, 31, and Adekunle Kabir, 54, were all sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in London on Tuesday.

The Home Office said the four were part of an organised criminal group that made fraudulent EU Settlement Scheme applications for Nigerian nationals between 2019 and 2023. They were all sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday.

They carried out the enterprise between March 2019 and May last year, and were also found to have provided false Nigerian Customary Marriage Certificates and other fraudulent documentation to help applicants remain in the country.

An investigation from the Home Office in the UK and Lagos found more than 2,000 false marriage documents were facilitated by the group, who themselves were Nigerian.

Home Office chief immigration officer Paul Moran said: “This group was absolutely prolific in their desire to abuse our borders and have rightly been brought to justice.

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“As with many gangs we encounter, their sole priority was financial gain. I am delighted that my team was able to intercept their operation, and I hope these convictions will serve as a warning to unscrupulous gangs who exploit people’s desperation to remain in the UK.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to secure our borders and clamp down on the gangs who prey on vulnerable people to make money.”

Onifade, from Gravesend in Kent, and Shodipo, from Manchester, were both found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate illegal entry into the UK and conspiracy to provide articles used in fraud. They were jailed for six years and five years respectively.

Gbadamosi, from Bolton, was convicted of obtaining leave to remain by deception and fraud by false representation and sentenced to six years.

Kabir, from London, was found guilty of possession of an identity document with improper intention but was cleared of obtaining leave to remain by deception. He was jailed for nine months.

Four Nigerians jailed in UK for forging 2,000 marriage documents

Related Topics:marriage documents Nigerians UK

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International

Ukraine bans Telegram for officials over security threats

Published

7 hours ago

September 20, 2024

Trends Admin

Ukraine bans Telegram for officials over security threats

Ukraine on Friday restricted the use of Telegram for its government, military and security officials, citing “threats” to national security on the app founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov.

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“The National Security and Defence Council decided to restrict the use of Telegram in government agencies, military formations and critical infrastructure facilities,” the council said in a statement on Facebook, saying it was a “matter of national security.”

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International

US officer arrested over killing of judge in court

Published

8 hours ago

September 20, 2024

Trends Admin

US officer arrested over killing of judge in court

A Kentucky sheriff has been arrested for fatally shooting a judge in his chambers, according to authorities.

District Judge Kevin Mullins was shot multiple times in the Letcher County Courthouse and died at the scene, according to Kentucky State Police.

Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.

Police said the shooting occurred on Thursday following an argument inside the court, but they have yet to identify the motivation.

Mullins, 54, was shot numerous times on Thursday at 14:00 local time at the court in Whitesburg, Kentucky, a small rural community about 150 miles (240 kilometres) southeast of Lexington.

Kentucky State Police said that Sheriff Stines was arrested at the site without incident.

They did not reveal the nature of the debate prior to the shooting.

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According to the Mountain Eagle, Sheriff Stines entered the judge’s outer office and informed court officials that he needed to meet with Mullins alone.

The two went into the judge’s chambers, closing the door behind them.

The publication said that those outside heard gunshots. Sheriff Stines apparently went out with his hands raised and surrendered to police. He was handcuffed in the courthouse’s lobby.

Russell Coleman, the state attorney general, stated in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that his office “will fully investigate and pursue justice.”

Kentucky State Police spokesperson Matt Gayheart said at a news conference that the town was startled by the incident.

“This community is small in nature, and we’re all shook,” he told me.

Mr. Gayheart stated that 50 personnel were inside the courthouse when the shooting occurred. Nobody else was wounded.

A school in the region was momentarily put under lockdown. Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter was “shocked by this act of violence.”

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced Judge Mullins’ death on social media, writing, “There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow.”

US officer arrested over killing of judge in court

International

Trans woman killed in Georgia day after anti-LGBT law passed

Published

15 hours ago

September 20, 2024

Trends Admin

Model and influencer Kesaria Abramidze had been seen as a trans leader in the Georgian community

Trans woman killed in Georgia day after anti-LGBT law passed

One of Georgia’s most well-known transgender women has been killed in her home, a day after the country’s parliament passed a major anti-LGBT bill.

Local officials say Kesaria Abramidze, 37, was stabbed to death in her flat in the capital Tbilisi on Wednesday.

A 26-year-old man has been arrested in the case that has shocked the small South Caucasian nation. Georgian media reported he was known to the victim.

Rights groups have linked the killing to the new anti-LGBT law, arguing the government’s promotion of it had fuelled transphobic hate crime.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who opposed the new law, said the “horrendous murder” raised urgent questions about hate crimes and discrimination.

The legislation from Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s government severely restricts rights for LGBT people.

It introduces a ban on same-sex marriage, gender-affirming surgeries, child adoption by non-heterosexuals and the promotion of same-sex relationships in schools.

The bill sailed through parliament on Tuesday in an 84-0 vote, despite criticism from rights groups.

The ruling party said the “Protection of Family Values and Minors” bill was designed to protect a majority of Georgians seeking protection from “LGBT propaganda”.

But local LGBT rights campaigners said the government had used homophobic and transphobic language and ideas in promoting the bill.

Several activists directly linked what they said was the government’s harmful rhetoric to the killing of Ms Abramidze.

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One of the first openly trans public figures in the country, she had represented Georgia in international trans pageants and had more than 500,000 followers on social media.

“Political homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia have become central to the government’s official discourse and ideology,” said local human rights group the Social Justice Center.

“Kesaria Abramidze’s killing cannot be viewed separately from this overall grave context,” it added.

Progressive politicians outside the country have also linked the killing to the government’s legislative agenda.

“Those who sow hatred will reap violence. Kesaria Abramidze was killed just one day after the Georgian parliament passed the anti-LGBTI law,” wrote German lawmaker Michael Roth, the social democratic chair of the country’s foreign affairs committee.

European Union figures had already condemned the legislation when it passed earlier this week, saying it further jeopardised the country’s stated aim of joining the EU.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the law was “further derailing the country from its EU path”. He called on the Georgian government to withdraw the law.

The legislation undermines the “fundamental rights of the people” and increases discrimination and stigmatisation, he added.

The British embassy has also expressed “serious concerns”.

Rights groups have characterised the Georgian legislation as being similar to Russian laws which severely restrict LGBT rights.

The Washington-based think tank Freedom House said the bill was “pulled directly from the Kremlin’s authoritarian playbook”.