KIDNAPPED AND TORTURED FATHER SEEKING PROTECTION WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE UK

My name is Niran, a Nigerian married father of three children aged sixteen, eleven and six; and together with my wife, we all live in the UK. We are seeking asylum as we will be in danger if we are returned to Nigeria and our third child was born here in the UK six years ago.

I am hereby seeking your support to join my campaign, aimed at urging the authority to allowing me and my family to continue to live in safety in the UK.

I came to the UK in December 2004 to seek protection and safety with my family, after I was kidnapped and tortured by the Niger Delta militants. I was tortured with hot rods, knives, and a pair of pliers was used to remove some of my teeth. I have numerous scars all over my body from the torture, and some of the scars and the torture I had to endure are too gruesome, and too distressing to mention here. I managed to escape from captivity after I was forced to agree to pay a ransom for my release.

I am a Mechanical Engineer by profession, and prior to my being kidnapped and tortured I was self employed in the Oil and Gas industry in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, employing over fifty people in various capacities from local communities. My company specialised in complex Engineering Design and Construction, executing onshore and offshore projects for one of the largest oil companies in the world.

The oil company made changes to a major project they had commissioned, and there were resulting delays; they eventually terminated the contract stating budgetary constraints, leaving no opportunity for negotiation. Without funds I could not pay local workers, and I started receiving threats of kidnap in June/July 2003, and this later intensified to threats to kidnap my oldest daughter, then aged seven, from school.  The Nigerian Police refused to help, and putting the safety of my family first; I arranged for my wife and children to come to the UK in September 2003, whilst I remained in Nigeria, relocating to remain safe. I was traced and kidnapped over a year later (in November 2004). 

Here in the UK, I was detained by the UKBA under immigration rules. I became very ill in detention, and I disclosed for the first time what had happened to me when I was kidnapped in Nigeria; I was told by officials that I could claim asylum, which I then did.

I was given help to tell my story by professionals giving me therapeutic and psychological support, but the Lower and Upper Tribunal had dismissed my appeals despite clear and detailed medico-legal reports--in accordance with Istanbul Protocol--by The Medical Foundation (now Freedom from Torture), and other psychological/psychiatric and country reports supporting my experiences of torture.

It is very important to me and my family that, despite my physical incapacity, we are able to actively involve ourselves in giving back something to the community that has given so much to us. We are involved in a whole range of initiatives to support people in the community; these include supporting old people, victims of domestic abuse and people with emotional and mental health difficulties. I am one of a team of individuals who initiated and set up a community based foodbank in our local church to provide food to individuals and families from the local community who are in crisis and have no food to eat.

I am currently awaiting a decision of a fresh claim submitted to the UKBA based on new evidence relating to our community ties and issues relating to the psychological/mental impact of the torture I had endured. In the event that this decision is not favourable, my options are very limited as we have already exhausted our appeal rights, and my family and I would be at high risk of being forcibly removed from the UK. The risk to me and my family if we are returned to Nigeria is still as high as it was over seven years ago when I fled. This risk includes being recaptured, tortured and killed.

I am asking for support from you to help me and family stay safely in the UK.  Signing this petition will help to support our application to continue to live in safety in the UK.

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