A UK Upper Tribunal has reversed a previous decision that blocked the deportation of 43-year-old Nigerian, Olutobi Ogunbawo.
Ogunbawo had initially avoided deportation after his wife, Maria Adesanya, argued that returning to Nigeria would prevent them from accessing IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment, which she claimed was unavailable in their home country.
Ogunbawo is challenging his deportation on human rights grounds. In 2019, he was convicted of immigration offenses for conspiring with a British citizen to falsely register him as the father of his child, enabling his partner to remain in the UK. Ogunbawo paid the British citizen to make the false claim, and after serving a three-year prison sentence, he faced deportation proceedings.
In January 2023, a first-tier tribunal judge ruled in his favor, citing the potential impact of deportation on his wife’s ability to conceive via IVF, based on the assertion that IVF was unavailable in Nigeria.
However, the Home Department disputed this claim, arguing that the judge had relied too heavily on Maria’s testimony, without sufficient supporting evidence.
After reviewing the case, the Upper Tribunal, on November 4, 2024, determined that the initial ruling was flawed. They found that the first-tier judge had failed to verify Maria’s statement with independent evidence, noting that a simple online search could have confirmed that IVF is available in Nigeria.
The tribunal issued a sharp critique of the previous decision, stating, “We conclude that the judge erred in exclusively relying upon Ms. A’s personal evidence when finding as a fact that IVF treatment is unavailable in Nigeria.”
As a result, the Upper Tribunal overturned the original decision, instructing that the case be reheard by a different judge.
Additionally, the tribunal supported the Home Secretary’s claim that IVF services are available in Nigeria, highlighting that even a basic internet search would have provided confirmation.
The appeal was granted, and the case was returned to the first-tier tribunal for reconsideration by a new judge.
Tone Jarvis-Mack, the Chief Executive of the Fertility Foundation Charity, expressed outrage over the earlier ruling, calling it “staggering.”
“How can such a decision be justified when countless law-abiding couples in the UK are denied the same opportunities? It’s shocking that a judge would make such a significant ruling when a quick Google search would have revealed that IVF treatment is readily available in Nigeria,” he said.