Fear has gripped a Nigerian man whose application to stay permanently in Canada has been rejected.
Following the refusal by the Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Adeyemi Ogundairo, who anchored his application on his bisexual nature, has expressed fear over the new law in Nigeria, which stipulates jail terms for offenders, our correspondent has learnt.
Culprits of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which banned and criminalized gay clubs, associations and organisations in Nigeria, risk maximum of 14 years imprisonment. But, death is the punishment in the Northern part of the country where Sharia law is being implemented.
Nigeria’s President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, on January 7, 2014 signed the Bill into law after the passage by the two chambers of the National Assembly.
Sources told The Eagle Online that the fear was further heightened with the recent arrest of 64-year-old Oluwasegun Adesina-Rasheed, Ope Abeeb (18) and 20-year-old Samad Ojo over alleged homosexuality in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the birth place of Ogundairo.
The three suspects were ordered remanded in prison by Chief Magistrate Anthony Araba of the Abeokuta Chief Magistrate Court I, Isabo.
After the law came to public knowledge, Western countries and the United Nations condemned the new legislation.
They said the Act contravenes known laws and conventions, particularly on freedom of association and that it discriminates on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Canada kicked against the law, even during debate in the Nigerian Senate, saying it would “disregard basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
“The promotion and protection of human rights is an integral part of Canadian foreign policy. Canada has clearly spoken out against human rights violations committed against persons on the basis of their sexuality,” Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird said.
However, in the result of its “Pre-Removal Risk Assessment” application, Susan Pirie, the senior immigration officer, said Ogundairo’s arguments were not convincing enough to enable his application succeed.
“Your PRRA application was rejected on 14 January 2014 for the following reason: it has been determined that you would not be at risk of persecution, subject to a danger of torture, or face a risk to your life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if returned to your country of nationality or habitual residence,” Pirie wrote.
The senior immigration officer reviewed the pieces of evidence tendered and concluded that nothing significant had changed in Nigeria’s situation “since the decision of the RPD in December 2011” that would warrant granting the bisexual claimant request for permanent resident status.
“Further, the evidence before me does not demonstrate that the applicant faces additional, forward-looking, personalized risks in Nigeria that were not contemplated by the RPD,” the officer stated. “The evidence before me does not support that the applicant faces more than a mere possibility of persecution for any of the Convention grounds in Nigeria.”
Pirie stressed further: “As a result, the application does not meet the requirements of Section 96 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. As well, I am not persuaded that the applicant being removed from Canada subjects him personally to a danger, believed on substantial grounds to exist of torture within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture.
“As a result, I must find that the applicant’s fears of harm do not place him within the meaning of persons in need of protection as is found in subparagraph 97(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.”
“I also find that it is unlikely that the applicant personally faces a risk to his life or to a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment in Nigeria and therefore the applicant does not meet the requirements of subparagraph 97(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
“Following a review of all of the evidence, the application for protection is rejected.”
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