Canadian immigration officials have rejected the asylum application of retired Nigerian police officer Wale Akinpelu and his wife, Ajarat Mojirola, citing his past association with the Nigerian police, an institution widely criticized for corruption and human rights violations.
Justice Norris of the Federal Court in Ottawa, Ontario, ruled against the couple’s refugee status request on January 2.
The couple fled Nigeria in 2017, claiming they were targeted by a criminal gang.
According to court records obtained by Peoples Gazette, Mrs Akinpelu was the first to leave for the United States in May 2017.
Her husband later joined her in October of the same year after resigning from the Nigerian Police Force.
By 2018, they moved to Canada and immediately applied for refugee protection, alleging threats to their lives from criminal elements.
However, during the application process, Mr. Akinpelu admitted that some of his former colleagues in the Nigerian police had unresolved disputes with him.
This admission prompted Canadian authorities to put his asylum request on hold.
Eventually, his application was denied because his past role as a police officer implicated him in human rights violations. A judicial review upheld the decision.
Meanwhile, the authorities processed Mrs Akinpelu’s asylum claim separately.
In March 2019, the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) rejected her application, citing inconsistencies in her claims.
She appealed, and the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) granted her a fresh hearing.
Despite the appeal, her asylum request was denied again in February 2023.
The RPD ruled that she failed to credibly establish her need for protection and was neither a Convention refugee nor a person at risk.
Seeking legal recourse, Mrs Akinpelu argued that the rejection of her application was procedurally unfair.
However, Justice Norris upheld the decision, noting that her case was built largely on evidence provided by her husband, which was riddled with contradictions.
The judge highlighted findings from the RPD, stating that Mrs Akinpelu had submitted fraudulent documents to support her asylum claim.
Additionally, her testimonies were inconsistent, and she struggled to substantiate key elements of her case, including claims that her father-in-law, her husband’s first wife, and his daughter were killed in an attack.
During questioning, she reportedly gave vague and contradictory responses, often deferring to her husband’s knowledge of the evidence.
The RPD concluded that further questioning would be pointless as she showed no inclination to address the inconsistencies.
With her judicial review request dismissed, Canadian immigration authorities are now set to proceed with her deportation process.
