New Delhi: Four Nigerian nationals have been sentenced to various jail terms by a court in the UK for forging marriage documents to allow people to live illegally in the country, a UK government press release stated.
According to the Home Office, Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade, Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo, Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi and Adekunle Kabir were jailed for a total of 13 years on Thursday after a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court.
Onifade and Shodipo were both found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate and conspiracy to provide articles used in fraud, whereas Gbadamosi was convicted of obtaining leave to remain by deception and fraud by false representation, and Kabir was found guilty of possession of an identity document with improper intention but cleared of obtaining leave to remain by deception.
The hearing was held in connection with a prosecution led by Home Office criminal and financial investigators in collaboration with its international operations office in Lagos. It was revealed that more than 2,000 fake marriage documents were forged by the gang between March 2019 and May 2023 to enable Nigerian nationals to remain in the UK illegally.
Home Office Investigation Supervisor, Chief Immigration Officer Paul Moran, said in a statement, “This group was absolutely prolific in their desire to abuse our borders and have rightly been brought to justice.As with many gangs we encounter, their sole priority was financial gain.”
“We will continue to work tirelessly to secure our borders and clamp down on the gangs who prey on vulnerable people to make money,” Moran added.