An asylum seeker who claims to be fleeing homophobic persecution in Nigeria has had a last-minute reprieve from being deported.
Uche Nnabuife was due to be put on a plane by British authorities today (6 December) and sent back to Nigeria where he feared he would be killed. But now a new lawyer has managed to holt his deportation.
Hani Zubeidi of Fadiga & Co has won a High Court injunction so Nnabuife won’t be sent back immediately. Meanwhile his supporters say they have gathered new witness statements and other evidence about his sexuality and the danger he could face if he was sent home.
PinkPaper.com highlighted Nnabuife’s case last week at the urging of his friends who said our article was his last hope. Now, with new evidence and legal support they hope he may get to stay in the UK. The new solicitor Zubeidi previously won a reprieve for another gay Nigerian, Hope Nwachukwu.
Nnabuife, now aged 33, claims he was beaten and hounded out of his home village in Nigeria as a teenager because of his sexuality. He went to live with his uncle in Lagos, but when he refused to marry a woman, his uncle turned on him and threatened to kill him. Nnabuife then claims he had to work as a male prostitute to survive on the streets and get enough money to flee to Europe. Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria and harshly punished by the authorities and families.
However the UK Border Agency points to asylum judgements which have described Nnabuife as a conman with a criminal conviction for possessing cannabis with intent to supply in the UK. They do not believe he is gay or that he was persecuted for his sexuality in Nigeria.
His friends say their new evidence will challenge this view. They have also appealed to Nnabuife’s MP, deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, who is a former equality minister, but claim not to have heard back from her.
