Nigerian nurse who won £20,000 training grant was illegal immigrant
A Nigerian nurse who used fake passports to work in the UK and obtain a £20,000 bursary has been struck off.
Ochala Ojonugwa arrived from Lagos, Nigeria with a six-month visa in October 2004.
After overstaying her visa she gave a fake name, date of birth and passport to enrol at Nottingham University to study nursing in 2007.
She used a different Nigerian passport to obtain a bursary of £20,000 stating on the application that she had five children.
Ojonugwa did not have any dependants in the UK, the Nursing and Midwifery Council was told.
She then used a fake UK passport to get a job with Nottingham University Hospital in 2010.
The National Insurance number she gave to the hospital was different from the one given to her by the Department for Work and Pensions.
After the initial six-month visa Ojungwa made no further visa applications.
Neither the British High Commission in Lagos nor the Home Office in the UK granted her any more visas.
Included within the Nigerian passport she used to apply to Nottingham University was a document purporting to show that Ojonugwa was granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) on 27 June 2002.
That was more than a year and a half before she applied for her first visa to travel to the UK.
Ojonugwa never applied to the Home Office for ILR.
The University believed the passport to be genuine and she studied nursing at the university for three years from 2007.
As a result of her university place she was eligible for a bursary from the British Government and was given £20,000.
In March 2010 Ojonugwa used a false UK passport as proof of right to work in the UK when applying to work at Nottingham University Hospital.
She also provided a P60 form with a fake national insurance number and worked at the hospital for two years.
Ojonugwa was caught after going to a branch of Natwest in Nottingham and trying to withdraw £2,950 from her account.
She used her fake UK passport as ID and a cashier became suspicious and made checks.
While these checks were being carried Ojunugwa left the bank without her passport or her money and police later arrested her nearby.
Ojonugwa appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on September 27 2013.
and was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
The NMC found all charges against her proved and she was struck off.
NMC chair Trevor Spires said: ‘Ms Ojonugwa has had considerable time to demonstrate an understanding of why what she did was unacceptable.
‘However, she has failed to demonstrate appropriate insight or remorse for her actions.
‘Further, the nature of the dishonesty, particularly in relation to the false declaration in order to obtain a bursary was in the panel’s view indicative of an attitudinal problem.
‘The panel has seen no information to exclude the risk of repetition and the panel noted with concern the sentencing judges’ remarks that Ms Ojonugwa had told ‘…lie after lie after lie in this court…’.’
‘The nature of Ms Ojonugwa’s conviction was a significant departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and is fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register.’
ends
