Four Nigerians have been sentenced to jail in the UK for forging over 2,000 marriage certificates to facilitate illegal immigration. Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade, 41, Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo, 38, Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi, 31, and Adekunle Kabir, 54, were sentenced on August 27 at Woolwich Crown Court in London.
The UK Home Office revealed that the group was part of an organized crime syndicate that created fraudulent EU Settlement Scheme applications for Nigerian nationals. Between March 2019 and May 2023, they provided false Nigerian Customary Marriage Certificates and other forged documents, allowing applicants, mostly Nigerians, to remain in the UK illegally.
The Home Office and Lagos-based investigators discovered the syndicate's production of over 2,000 fake marriage documents before their arrest. Onifade and Shodipo were found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate illegal entry into the UK and conspiracy to provide articles for use in fraud, receiving six and five-year sentences, respectively.
Gbadamosi was sentenced to six years for obtaining leave to remain by deception and fraud by false representation, while Kabir was jailed for nine months for possessing an identity document with improper intention but was acquitted of obtaining leave to remain by deception.
Paul Moran, Chief Immigration Officer of the Home Office, stated, "This group was prolific in their desire to abuse our borders and have rightly been brought to justice." He emphasized the importance of intercepting such operations to prevent gangs from exploiting vulnerable individuals for financial gain.