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News_Naija

UK Records 22,000 Nigerian Asylum Seekers

The United Kingdom Home Office received 22,619 asylum applications from Nigerian nationals from 2010 to 2024, according to findings by The PUNCH. This is as Nigerians accounted for one in 30 UK asylum claims over the period, ranking 11th on the Home Office’s newly released year-end Asylum and Resettlement statistics. According to the Home Office, nearly twice as many Nigerians (2,841) applied for asylum in 2024 as in 2023 (1,462). Overall, 2024 saw the highest number of asylum applications to the UK, with 108,138 people, a 378 per cent rise from 2010. Most were first-time claims by South Asian and Middle Eastern nationals. Iran topped the chart with 75,737, likely propelled by the increasing persecution of dissidents by the Iranian regime. Pakistan followed far behind with 57,621. 2024 saw 10,542 Pakistanis claiming asylum in the UK, driven by post-election turmoil, soaring inflation and a spike in blasphemy prosecutions that human rights groups say offer substantial grounds for protection claims. Afghanistan trailed with 54,363 asylum applications since 2010. In 2024, 8,508 Afghans sought refuge in the UK, a development that pundits argue is the continued aftermath of the Taliban ousting of the Karzai administration in 2022. That year, 11,358 Afghans sought asylum in the UK, with 9,710 applications the following year. Others are Albania (50,944), Iraq (45,711), Eritrea (37,687), Syria (34,997) and Bangladesh (31,744). Asylum seekers from Bangladesh rose from 5,097 in 2023 to 7,225 in 2024. The surge coincided with the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sudan and India round out the top ten with 30,897 and 30,179, respectively. Nigeria’s 22,619 filings sit just ahead of Sri Lanka’s 22,059 and above Vietnam, China and Turkey. Brazil, Kuwait, Yemen, Colombia and Jordan were at the lower end of the list, each contributing fewer than 6,500 claims. Analysts attribute Nigeria’s leap on the list to harsh conditions such as insurgency, bandit attacks, kidnapping and collapsing household purchasing power following the naira’s devaluation in 2023. In an interview with our correspondent, Charles Onunaiju, Research Director, Centre for China Studies, Abuja, argued, “We have a challenge. Since Nigeria is becoming inhospitable, especially for young people with no opportunities, there is desperation to go abroad.” Local reports claim that young professionals who might once have entered the UK through skilled worker visas increasingly hedge their chances by applying for asylum once in the country; others arrive irregularly through continental Europe, citing kidnapping threats and communal attacks in their affidavits. In most cases, the reports say, applicants also invoke political persecution under Nigeria’s sweeping cybercrimes legislation or discrimination tied to sexual orientation—categories that fall within the Refugee Convention’s protection grounds. Under British law, an asylum seeker must demonstrate a “well-founded fear of persecution” on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, the Home Office explained on its website. The Home Office makes initial decisions, and negative rulings can be appealed to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. Theoretically, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 makes those who arrive through a safe third country inadmissible. However, the UK government’s proposed removal pathway—mainly its deal under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to transfer claimants to Rwanda—remains mired in legal challenges. Therefore, most 2024 and 2025 arrivals continue to pass through the ordinary system. Speaking with The PUNCH, Abuja-based development economist, Dr. Aliyu Ilias, argued that the exit of more Nigerians and their permanent settlement abroad means less skilled labour for the country. He said with most Nigerians confronting both economic headwinds and deteriorating security at home, the British asylum route, however uncertain, still appears to offer a better prospect. Ilias explained, “It’s definitely a cause of concern because this includes our professionals who are moving, and it takes a whole lot to train these professionals. “In the medical sector, Nigeria subsidises a lot to get people trained. You cannot get trained as a medical doctor or an engineer abroad for a cheaper cost compared to what we get in Nigeria. “So, it is total brain drain in the long run and for the economy, it is reducing our GDP. The appalling part is that most of our Nigerian brothers and sisters who go out do not return. They get permanent residency, and they become valuable to the immediate country.”

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News_Naija

UK Records 22,000 Nigerian Asylum Seekers

The United Kingdom Home Office received 22,619 asylum applications from Nigerian nationals from 2010 to 2024, according to findings by The PUNCH. This is as Nigerians accounted for one in 30 UK asylum claims over the period, ranking 11th on the Home Office’s newly released year-end Asylum and Resettlement statistics. According to the Home Office, nearly twice as many Nigerians (2,841) applied for asylum in 2024 as in 2023 (1,462). Overall, 2024 saw the highest number of asylum applications to the UK, with 108,138 people, a 378 per cent rise from 2010. Most were first-time claims by South Asian and Middle Eastern nationals. Iran topped the chart with 75,737, likely propelled by the increasing persecution of dissidents by the Iranian regime. Pakistan followed far behind with 57,621. 2024 saw 10,542 Pakistanis claiming asylum in the UK, driven by post-election turmoil, soaring inflation and a spike in blasphemy prosecutions that human rights groups say offer substantial grounds for protection claims. Afghanistan trailed with 54,363 asylum applications since 2010. In 2024, 8,508 Afghans sought refuge in the UK, a development that pundits argue is the continued aftermath of the Taliban ousting of the Karzai administration in 2022. That year, 11,358 Afghans sought asylum in the UK, with 9,710 applications the following year. Others are Albania (50,944), Iraq (45,711), Eritrea (37,687), Syria (34,997) and Bangladesh (31,744). Asylum seekers from Bangladesh rose from 5,097 in 2023 to 7,225 in 2024. The surge coincided with the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sudan and India round out the top ten with 30,897 and 30,179, respectively. Nigeria’s 22,619 filings sit just ahead of Sri Lanka’s 22,059 and above Vietnam, China and Turkey. Brazil, Kuwait, Yemen, Colombia and Jordan were at the lower end of the list, each contributing fewer than 6,500 claims. Analysts attribute Nigeria’s leap on the list to harsh conditions such as insurgency, bandit attacks, kidnapping and collapsing household purchasing power following the naira’s devaluation in 2023. In an interview with our correspondent, Charles Onunaiju, Research Director, Centre for China Studies, Abuja, argued, “We have a challenge. Since Nigeria is becoming inhospitable, especially for young people with no opportunities, there is desperation to go abroad.” Local reports claim that young professionals who might once have entered the UK through skilled worker visas increasingly hedge their chances by applying for asylum once in the country; others arrive irregularly through continental Europe, citing kidnapping threats and communal attacks in their affidavits. In most cases, the reports say, applicants also invoke political persecution under Nigeria’s sweeping cybercrimes legislation or discrimination tied to sexual orientation—categories that fall within the Refugee Convention’s protection grounds. Under British law, an asylum seeker must demonstrate a “well-founded fear of persecution” on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, the Home Office explained on its website. The Home Office makes initial decisions, and negative rulings can be appealed to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. Theoretically, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 makes those who arrive through a safe third country inadmissible. However, the UK government’s proposed removal pathway—mainly its deal under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to transfer claimants to Rwanda—remains mired in legal challenges. Therefore, most 2024 and 2025 arrivals continue to pass through the ordinary system. Speaking with The PUNCH, Abuja-based development economist, Dr. Aliyu Ilias, argued that the exit of more Nigerians and their permanent settlement abroad means less skilled labour for the country. He said with most Nigerians confronting both economic headwinds and deteriorating security at home, the British asylum route, however uncertain, still appears to offer a better prospect. Ilias explained, “It’s definitely a cause of concern because this includes our professionals who are moving, and it takes a whole lot to train these professionals. “In the medical sector, Nigeria subsidises a lot to get people trained. You cannot get trained as a medical doctor or an engineer abroad for a cheaper cost compared to what we get in Nigeria. “So, it is total brain drain in the long run and for the economy, it is reducing our GDP. The appalling part is that most of our Nigerian brothers and sisters who go out do not return. They get permanent residency, and they become valuable to the immediate country.”

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News_Naija

Go And Compete With My Children, MC Oluomo Defends Kundusi Gaffe

The President, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, has defended his ‘kundusi’ comment amidst the growing mockery among Nigerians. Akinsanya made the defence while speaking with the delegates of the union in a viral video on Tuesday. According to him, he is uneducated and could probably be bad at expressing himself in the English language, but he trained his children well, and they are now citizens of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Recall that the union leader recently erroneously mispronounced kudos as “kundusi” while commending the good works of the union members in the Federal Capital Territory. Following this, Akinsanya noted that rather than going to school, he ventured into the transport sector, where he started as a bus conductor. “If you and my children come out to express yourself, I’m not sure you can beat them, they are highly educated. I trained my children properly with money. My children are citizens of America and the United Kingdom. I worked hard to get there. “‘Kundusi!’ What happened? Grammars are too much. Grammar won’t finish Nigeria, I might not understand the English language, but I understand Yoruba,” he said The union leader also relished his beginning, stressing, “I started as a bus conductor, then as a treasurer of a unit of NURTW, to unit chairman, to branch deputy treasurer, to branch treasurer, to branch chairman, to state chairman, and then to national president. I worked hard to get here. I am not educated. “So they are mocking me for saying ‘kundusi’, is my child not Qudus? You that you are educated, what did you do?,” he queried. Akinsanya’s children are known to be in the defense of their father anytime he goofed on social media with a bad expression. In 2022, one of his sons, who identified as King West on Instagram, challenged those calling his father a lout. Kingwest took to his account after a troll tagged his father a lout who was just enjoying the national wealth because of his relationship with President Bola Tinubu. He wrote, “For those calling my father a tout, if my father was your father, you would never lack love, care, protection. Get a father like mine.”

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News_Naija

Protesters Storm AGFs Office, Demand Probe Of Mele Kyari

A group of protesters on Tuesday stormed the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to demand the prosecution of former Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari. The group under the banner of Concerned Citizens Against Corruption, also asked the AGF to conduct a thorough investigation into NNPCL’s transactions over the past five years. Led by its convener, Kabir Matazu, the group expressed disappointment that, despite President Bola Tinubu’s removal of Kyari and the entire NNPCL board on April 2, 2025, no steps have been taken to investigate the alleged corrupt practices during Kyari’s tenure. The group highlighted controversies surrounding the rehabilitation and recommissioning of government-owned refineries, alleging that billions of dollars were spent without transparency. They also pointed out a perplexing situation where NNPCL is reportedly indebted to Matrix Energy to the tune of over $2 billion, with the debt being serviced through daily crude oil allocations. “It is on record that the removal of the erstwhile leadership of the NNPCL was widely applauded by Nigerians, especially groups like ours that have been at the forefront of demanding accountability and transparency in the management of institutions,” Matazu said. He further stated, “It is also notable that Kyari’s leadership of the NNPCL was plagued by numerous allegations of corruption due to a lack of transparency. Nigerians are disillusioned that the President has only stopped at removing the former leadership without initiating steps to investigate Kyari and his team’s management of the organisation. A key issue is the alleged fraud surrounding the rehabilitation and recommissioning of government-owned refineries. The figures and facts simply do not add up. “In addition to the billions of dollars claimed to have been spent on refinery repairs, Kyari’s administration also alleged that Matrix Energy Limited invested $400 million in rehabilitating the Port Harcourt Refinery, even though the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion for the same facility. “More perplexingly, the NNPCL is now reportedly indebted to Matrix Energy by over $2 billion. This debt is being serviced through daily crude oil allocations to Matrix Energy, for which no payments are being made. “This situation raises urgent questions: Why and how is the Federal Government, through the NNPCL, indebted to Matrix Energy for $2 billion? Why is the debt being serviced with daily crude oil supplies? Who were the parties involved in negotiating this deal? Why are Nigerians being kept in the dark about these agreements.” The group also emphasised that addressing these issues would enable the Federal Government to account for how public resources were used under Kyari’s leadership. “An investigation into these transactions would help the government identify funds that need to be recovered and from whom, especially considering Nigeria’s dire economic condition. “Furthermore, such an investigation would ensure that the current leadership is held accountable and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past”, Matazu said. The group urged the AGF to immediately review all agreements entered into by the NNPCL during Kyari’s administration. “This investigation should uncover the Federal Government’s financial losses and recommend actionable steps to recover these funds. We demand an immediate judicial review,” Matazu stated. The Concerned Citizens Against Corruption also urged the Minister of Justice to push for a commission of inquiry into the NNPCL’s handling of refinery repairs under Kyari and the dissolved board. The protesters vowed to continue demanding accountability and transparency in the management of institutions, emphasising that Nigerians deserve to know the truth about the alleged corrupt practices under Kyari’s leadership.