How Nigerian couple was caught while attempting to ‘smuggle’ baby into UK

Reports say United Kingdom border officials intercepted a Nigerian couple who attempted to bring a baby girl that was not biologically theirs into the country. As reported by the BBC, the couple’s odd behaviour during their interaction with the baby, who was given the pseudonym Lucy, at Manchester Airport, triggered suspicion among border officials, who promptly intervened. On interrogation, Raphael Ossai, who claimed to be the girl’s father, produced a purported birth certificate, which showed Oluwakemi Olasanoye, his travelling companion, as the mother of the baby. However, officials discovered a second birth certificate, hidden in the lining of the couple’s luggage and bearing the name of another woman, Ossai’s British wife, as the mother of the baby. ALSO READ: UK deports 43 asylum seekers, foreign offenders to Nigeria, Ghana According to the Border Force investigation, Lucy was born in a Nigerian rural community in 2022 and was handed to an orphanage by her young mother when she was three days old. Subsequently, Ossai and Olasanoye were accused and charged with illegally taking the baby to the UK from Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. DNA tests presented in court proved that Lucy has no biological relationship with Ossai or his travelling companion. The husband later told the court that he and his British wife had been looking for a child to adopt, adding that he took custody of Lucy when she was an infant. The court found that the couple obtained legal permission to foster Lucy but not to adopt her or take her out of Nigeria. They pleaded guilty to immigration offences and were sentenced to 18 months in prison. Ossai and his British wife subsequently pleaded to the court to grant them the right to care for Lucy, but the court turned down the request. The husband further argued that Lucy was like a daughter to him, stating that the British court isn’t authorised to take her away since Nigerian authorities had approved him as her foster parent. ALSO READ: Woman granted UK asylum after joining IPOB – she was rejected 8 times “[Lucy] is like that precious gift that I desired so much,” Ossai’s British wife reportedly said. However, the High Court Judge, Jonathan Cohen, ruled that the couple’s lies and actions, especially moving Lucy from Nigeria, had “inevitably caused her very significant emotional harm.”