Nigerian Princes Abuse Claims

07 February 2010

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Nigeria's Prince Ademola Babatunde Bakare claims he has been treated worse in the UK than his home country.

The 37-year-old prince - who came to Britain in 2008 after mistakenly boarding a ship he thought was bound for Canada to join his wife and children - has written to authorities begging to be sent back to Nigeria, where he was previously beaten and shot.

In his furious note to the Home Office, Ademola - who was arrested and imprisoned for travelling with false documents when he first reported to UK authorities - said: "I didn't want to come to this useless country in the first place."

It is however reasonable to expect people who have been found by the independent courts not to need asylum to return home.

The prince alleges he was never given proper medical treatment for his gunshot wounds during his year-long detention and claims he was "tortured".

He complained to the Mail Online: "The Home Office is using my illness to torture me. I am a torture survivor and am still suffering seriously from my past torture, which I needed proper standard medical care."

The prince is now believed to have been given travel documents to return to Nigeria.

Matthew Coats, head of Immigration, said: "The UK Border Agency will not tolerate abuse of our asylum and immigration systems and we will return those here illegally. We consider every individual case with enormous care and where someone needs our protection, we will grant it and do so proudly.

"It is however reasonable to expect people who have been found by the independent courts not to need asylum to return home."

Prince Bakare is a member of the Ajike royal family, one of three competing royal families in the city of Owo.

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