Buffalo, N.Y. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection Field Operations announced the arrest of a Nigerian citizen on charges of false claim to citizenship, misuse of a passport and false statements.
On February 17, CBP officers encountered a 23-year-old male as he applied for admission into the United States at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The subject presented a valid U.S. passport and New York State driver's license as proof of citizenship and advised the CBP officer that he was returning to his home in New York City after attending a party in Toronto, Ontario. Initial examination of the presented documents revealed what appeared to be inconsistencies and the subject was referred to CBP secondary enforcement for verification of his immigration status.
During the course of the secondary interview, the CBP officer noticed the subject had an accent not consistent with someone who had grown up in the New York City area. When asked, the subject again claimed he was born and raised in New York, and has spent his entire life in the United States.
A query of the subject's fingerprints resulted in the discovery of a record indicating the prints were not those of a United States citizen but rather belonged to Oluwaseyi Badero, a 23-year-old Nigerian national who had previously applied for a visa to enter the country.
Additional record checks by CBP revealed that Badero entered the United States legally in November of 2003 as a visitor, and adjusted his status to that of a student in July of 2004. Badero's student status was revoked in 2006 when he failed to comply with the conditions of the visa, in that he failed to maintain a full course of study. Badero has been living in the United States illegally ever since. Further examination of the presented passport and driver's license revealed that Badero was not the lawful owner of either document.
Badero was arrested by CBP officers and charged with false claim to citizenship, misuse of a passport and false statements. He is being detained pending prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York.