A UK upper tribunal has overturned a previous decision halting the deportation of 43-year-old Nigerian, Olutobi Ogunbawo, following his wife, Maria Adesanya’s claim that in vitro fertilisation treatment is unavailable in Nigeria.
Ogunbawo, who was convicted in 2019 for immigration-related offenses, had initially avoided deportation after Maria successfully argued before a first-tier tribunal that removing her husband would extinguish their chances of conceiving a child.
Maria had testified that IVF, crucial for their fertility treatment, was unavailable in Nigeria, a claim that was accepted by the first-tier tribunal.
In January 2023, Judge Malone ruled that deporting Ogunbawo would cause undue hardship to the couple, effectively preventing his removal from the UK.
However, the Secretary of State for the Home Department challenged this decision, questioning the validity of Maria’s assertion regarding the lack of IVF services in Nigeria.
The case was reviewed by the upper tribunal, which found that the first-tier tribunal had erred by accepting Maria’s testimony without independent evidence to support her claim.
The upper tribunal noted that even a basic online search would have shown the availability of IVF services in Nigeria, undermining the foundation of the couple’s argument.
The judgment stated, “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,” and emphasised that the first-tier tribunal failed to examine objective evidence about the availability of IVF in Nigeria.
The upper tribunal also highlighted the Secretary of State’s unchallenged assertion that a simple search revealed IVF services in Nigeria.
As a result, the Secretary of State’s appeal was upheld, and the decision of the first-tier tribunal was set aside. The case will now be remitted to the first-tier tribunal for further review by a different judge.
Ogunbawo, who had served a three-year prison sentence for conspiring to facilitate unlawful immigration, remains embroiled in ongoing deportation proceedings.
