- Vivian Chike Obichere, a Nigerian native who became a United States (US) citizen in 2013, has had her naturalisation revoked
- A federal court in California entered a judgment stripping Obichere of her American citizenship in October 2026
- The denaturalisation is part of what the Justice Department describes as a historic campaign targeting fraudulent citizenship
The United States Department of Justice has revoked the citizenship of a Nigerian woman who concealed a years-long passport fraud scheme during her naturalisation process, stripping her of a status she had held for 13 years.
On 13 October, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a judgment revoking the naturalisation of Vivian Chike Obichere, a Nigerian native, after it found that she had illegally procured her U.S. citizenship.
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According to the Justice Department, Obichere's fraud began as far back as 1992, when she used the name, social security number, birthplace, and date of birth belonging to a real U.S. citizen, identified only as "C.C.O.," to fraudulently obtain an American passport. She renewed that fraudulent passport a decade later in 2002.
By 2003, Obichere had entered the immigration system under her real identity as a lawful permanent resident. In 2012, however, she simultaneously attempted to renew the fraudulent passport under the alias C.C.O. while also applying for naturalisation under her actual name.
During her naturalisation interview, she swore under oath that she had never used the name C.C.O., a claim prosecutors say she knew to be false.
She was granted U.S. citizenship in 2013, even as investigators were beginning to unravel her scheme. Two years later, in 2015, Obichere was convicted of making a false statement in a passport application and using a fraudulent passport, and she admitted in court to the lies she had told immigration officials over more than two decades.
The Justice Department filed a formal denaturalisation complaint against her on 30 July. Both parties submitted a joint motion on 7 October seeking a consent judgment to revoke her citizenship, and the court issued its ruling on 13 October.
The case is part of a broader denaturalisation push by the current administration. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department's Civil Division said the effort is aimed at protecting the integrity of U.S. citizenship.
"Securing denaturalisation is the final step to strip citizenship from those who conceal crimes or defraud the American people," Shumate said.
"This administration will continue its historic denaturalisation campaign to protect the value of U.S. citizenship."
Legit.ng reported that the US had released the names of 24 Nigerians to be deported in October.
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that the US had increased the number of Nigerians listed for deportation to 157.
10 Nigerians facing deportation from US
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the US had named 10 Nigerians set to be deported from the country.
The detainees face a wide range of criminal charges, including wire fraud, identity theft, drug offences, child cruelty, and weapons possession.
Temitope Bashua, arrested in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, faces charges of wire fraud, identity theft, and general fraud.
Source: Legit.ng