{"id":11377,"date":"2019-07-20T21:57:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T21:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=5617"},"modified":"2019-07-20T21:57:29","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T21:57:29","slug":"investigation-nigerian-man-hillary-ineomo-marcus-living-in-britain-since-age-of-10-having-two-british-children-facing-deportation-cries-from-harmondsworth-detention-centre-i-am-british-and-afra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/investigation-nigerian-man-hillary-ineomo-marcus-living-in-britain-since-age-of-10-having-two-british-children-facing-deportation-cries-from-harmondsworth-detention-centre-i-am-british-and-afra\/","title":{"rendered":"INVESTIGATION: NIGERIAN Man, HILLARY INEOMO-MARCUS living in Britain since age of 10 having TWO British Children facing Deportation…Cries from Harmondsworth detention centre: ‘I am British and afraid, I have no ties to Nigeria’ * Claims arrest, prosecution done in error by United Kingdom security operatives * Blindly invest \u00a34,500 in cousin’s business, same fund collected as tax returns behind him * Immigration revoked his status, Home Office sends him Deportation Notice * ‘British Government is set to ruin my family. He has no home in Nigeria. Leave my Husband alone’-Stacey, Wife of embattled Nigerian lament BY ROBERT IGANI\/SPECIAL CRIME CORRESPONDENT, UNITED KINGDOM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

INVESTIGATION:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NIGERIAN\nMan, HILLARY INEOMO-MARCUS living in Britain since age of 10 having\nTWO British Children facing Deportation<\/strong>…Cries\nfrom <\/strong>Harmondsworth\ndetention centre<\/strong>: ‘I am\nBritish and afraid, I have no ties to Nigeria’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Claims\narrest, prosecution done in error by United Kingdom security\noperatives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Blindly\ninvest \u00a34,500\nin cousin’s business, same fund collected as tax returns behind him<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Immigration\nrevoked his status, Home Office sends him Deportation Notice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* ‘British\nGovernment is set to ruin my family. He has no home in Nigeria. Leave\nmy Husband alone’-Stacey, Wife of embattled Nigerian lament<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBY\nROBERT IGANI\/SPECIAL CRIME CORRESPONDENT, UNITED KINGDOM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nNIGERIAN MAN HILLARY INEOMO-MARCUS<\/strong>,\nBROUGHT\nTO THE QUEEN’S ENCLAVE AT THE AGE OF 10 WITHOUT A FAULT OF HIS AND\nHAS LIVED HIS ENTIRE ADULTHOOD IN THE QUEEN’S ENCLAVE is now facing\ndeportation from United Kingdom (UK) Home Office-even though he is\nstill insisting that his earlier arrest, prosecution and detention\nwere done in error. <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hillary,\na former prisoner turned advocate for penal reform who has two\nBritish children is presently facing imminent removal from Britain in\nwhat campaigners have said highlights the government\u2019s \u201crobotic\napproach to detention and deportation\u201d. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\n35 year old Nigerian who arrived in the UK aged 10 and has lived in\nLondon ever since was granted leave to remain in the early 2000s. But\nimmigration officials revoked his status after he served a 15-month\nprison sentence in 2013 for a tax offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nthe records, during his time in prison, the Nigerian national worked\nas a presenter on National Prison Radio, where he was commended as\nbeing the best prisoner-producer to ever have worked on the station.\nSince his release, Mr Ineomo-Marcus has presented a number of\nprogrammes about prison and rehabilitation on national radio and\nvolunteered for charities that seek to deter young people from\noffending. Alongside\nhis voluntary work, Hillary is primary carer for his two sons, aged\nthree and one, while his wife Stacey, who he married five years ago,\nworks in the civil service. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nhe was served a deportation notice recently while signing on with the\nHome Office. He was given no forewarning and had to wait at the\nreporting centre for three hours with his baby son before his wife\nwas called and told to collect her child so the Nigerian could be\ntaken to a removal centre. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking\nfrom Harmondsworth detention centre Hillary said the idea of being\nflown back to Nigeria was \u201cterrifying\u201d, adding: \u201cThis is a\ncountry that I have no ties to \u2013 and the Home Office hasn\u2019t\nobjected to this. I\u2019m\nnot able to sleep because this is hanging over me. The prospect that\nthey could walk in and grab me and put me on a plane before I can say\ngoodbye to anyone \u2013 not even my children \u2013 terrifies me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nam a product of British education and British culture. I\u2019ve played\nin football teams, made friends, built networks within the community.\nI am quintessentially, de-facto British \u2013 apart from the fact that\nI just don\u2019t have a little red book for a passport.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hillary described the crime he committed in 2013 as a \u201clapse of\njudgement\u201d, saying he had invested \u00a34,500 into a business set up\nhis cousin, which \u2013 unbeknownst to him \u2013 was claiming back taxes\nit was not entitled to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA\ncrime is a crime \u2013 I am in no way trying to justify it. I did my\ntime. But this is a form of double punishment. Prison did what it is\nsupposed to do,” he continued. “I haven\u2019t reoffended,\nI\u2019ve given back to society. The probation service itself has\nassessed me as being low-risk of re-offending.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phil Maguire, chief executive of the Prison Radio Association,\nwhere Hillary worked during his time in HMP Brixton, described the\n35-year-old as a \u201cgifted and thoughtful communicator\u201d who had\n\u201cpositively influenced the lives of many thousands of prisoners\u201d\nthrough his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe\nquality of Hilary\u2019s work was quite remarkable, as was his work\nethic. Hillary proved to be the very best prisoner-producer we have\never had the pleasure of working alongside,” Mr Maguire added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bella Sankey, director of charity Detention Action, said \nHillary’s case highlighted \u201call that is wrong with the Home\nOffice’s robotic approach to detention and deportation\u201d. She added:\n\u201cHe\u2019s been here since childhood, has repaid his debt to society\nand is by any measure \u2018more British than foreign\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDetaining\nand deporting him to a country that is not his home is manifestly\nunjust – it\u2019s time for discretion, common sense and compassion to\nbe reintroduced to our system.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his wife Stacey, who has had to take time off work in order to\ncare for her children in her husband’s absence, said the situation\nwas \u201cextremely draining. The British government are bent on tearing\nmy family apart. They should leave my husband alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 32-year-old British wife continued: \u201cThe kids are coming\nhome and looking for daddy\u2019s shoes. I say daddy\u2019s going to come\nback. He\u2019s just gone to do something. No one seems to care that he\nhas children he needs to look after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\nas though the government wants me to be a single parent and on\nbenefits. I won\u2019t be able to cope if he goes. I won\u2019t be able to\nwork. He does everything with the children \u2013 takes them to the\nlibrary, does activates with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe has worked all his life and he\u2019s made one mistake. They\u2019ve\npunished him for it once and they\u2019re punishing him again.\nBritish-born people who have done much worse than him are able to\nlive their life with their family after they\u2019ve done their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He has no home in Nigeria \u2013 where do they expect him to\ngo? Speaking about the prospect of his removal, Hillary said he\nfeared for the future of his children being left in a fatherless\nhousehold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\nare used to waking up in the morning. I take them swimming every\nSaturday. I pick the eldest up from school and they\u2019re with me\nuntil mummy gets home. I put them to bed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy\nwife is going to have to stop working because it would be impossible\nto make any alternative childcare arrangements. Why should she have\nto do this when I am well and alive? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a massive crisis in our society right now where young\nboys are stabbing each other. A lot of them are young black boys from\ndisadvantaged backgrounds. And when I\u2019ve had conversations with\nyoung offenders in prisons there is a common theme and that is an\nabsence of a father figure in their lives. That\nis worrying for me, because these boys are potentially my sons. That\nscares me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Home Office said they did not comment on individual cases, but\nsaid: “Foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing\ncrimes in the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport\nthem.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INVESTIGATION: NIGERIAN Man, HILLARY INEOMO-MARCUS living in Britain since age of 10 having TWO British Children facing Deportation…Cries from Harmondsworth detention centre: ‘I am British and afraid, I have no ties to Nigeria’ * Claims arrest, prosecution done in error by United Kingdom security operatives * Blindly invest \u00a34,500 in cousin’s business, same fund collected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[129,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-11377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nigeria","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-nigeria-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}