Deported Nigerian Students Return To Canada!

Two young Nigerian women who had spent nearly 16 months fighting deportation orders from the federal government over student visa violations have returned to Saskatchewan to resume their education this fall.

Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Amadi are slated to resume their studies at the University of Regina after departing the province last October following a lengthy battle against deportation that saw them seek sanctuary at a church.

“It’s really exciting,” Devon Peters, president of the U of R Students Union, told Metro of the women’s return from Nigeria after they applied to the Canadian government and were permitted to come back.

We saw some fairly large rallies (on their behalf) at the campus,” he added, “so my sense would be that the general student body will be really excited.”

The women landed at Regina International Airport on Saturday night following their flight from the African country, and found a crowd of supporters there to greet them.

“This is good news — hopefully the beginning of a happy ending, and great new lives, for Victoria and (Amadi),” Ralph Goodale, Liberal MP for the Wascana riding, said in a prepared statement.

“Now that these two young women have this new chance, it’s up to them to make the most of the opportunities before them.”

The students claim they had been unaware that their visas prevented them from working outside the U of R campus when Amadi took a job at a Wal-Mart outlet and Ordu found employment for an agency that held demonstrations at the store.

After Ottawa ordered them to leave the country, Amadi and Ordu began staying at a Regina church in an effort to avoid being sent to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, U of R students, faculty members and — in a rare sign of co-operation — both parties at the provincial legislature pressed the federal government to scrap the deportation orders.

The students eventually decided to return to Nigeria, and did so shortly after the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year.

“They went back to Nigeria and reapplied to come back again,” Goodale told Metro.

“They left the country voluntarily last October … and I think that improved their standing a bit in the eyes of the Immigration Department.”

Goodale is urging the federal Conservative government to launch an independent investigation to determine why the Canada Border Services Agency had ordered the women deported.

“There’s just something wrong with that scenario,” he said. “The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”

Goodale praised senior leadership at the U of R, faculty members and students for “persistently and courageously fighting for justice” in the case.