UK Border officials arrested a Nigerian couple at Manchester Airport while trying to smuggle a baby into the country.
It was gathered that the incident happened in June 2023 after the boarder officials noticed something unusual about how the couple were interacting with the baby they brought with them.
According to a BBC report, the man, Raphael Ossai, claimed to be the baby’s father and showed a birth certificate listing his travel companion, Oluwakemi Olasanoye, as the child’s mother.
But when officers searched their luggage, they discovered a second birth certificate hidden in the lining. That one named Ossai’s British wife as the baby’s mother.
An investigation later revealed the baby girl, referred to as Lucy (not her real name), was born in a rural part of Nigeria in September 2022.
Her biological mother, who was very young at the time, placed her in an orphanage just days after birth.
Authorities say Ossai and Olasanoye illegally took the baby from Lagos to the UK, even though they were only approved to foster her in Nigeria—not adopt her or travel with her abroad.
DNA testing confirmed neither Ossai nor Olasanoye were biologically related to Lucy.
In court, Ossai explained that he and his British wife had been looking to adopt and took custody of Lucy when she was still an infant.
The Nigerian embassy reportedly declined to comment on the case.
Meanwhile, UK-based Nigerian doctor, Dr. Harvey Olufunmilayo, simply known as Dr Funmilayo, has been accused of sexual assault by his ex-girlfriend who is also a female doctor based in the United Kingdom.
