An update on a Christian family in Canada facing deportation back to Nigeria to face the danger of jihadist persecution. Jihad Watch reported in mid-July:
Canada has implemented a generous open-door immigration policy toward Muslim migrants, but it is turning its back on a Christian family seeking refuge from real danger, a family that has had no problems in integrating and has been living peaceably with neighbors and the wider Welland community. Canada’s general stance toward immigration is as follows: the country’s Immigration minister Ahmed Hussen promised to lead the charge on the global UN refugee plan, aka The UN Migration Pact. Hussen also defended a bill reinstating the citizenship of convicted terrorists in 2017. Last month, Hussen announced Canada’s plans to “massively ramp up” refugee intake to include economic migrants.
Earlier this month, a rally was held in front of Hussen’s office. A message was widely distributed by David Cooke, a leader of a Christian-based community activist group in Canada, CitizenGo, which organized the rally:
I was joined by around 50 concerned Canadians….in front of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen’s office in Toronto, where we voiced our support for the Ogunkoya family. This Christian family is being deported to Nigeria, where they will once again face persecution and suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ.
People travelled from all over Ontario to express their concerns to Minister Hussen.
The rally was covered here.
Support for the family has crossed party lines. “Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch is rallying behind Morufat and her family by sending a letter to federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen saying they deserve a chance to stay in Canada”; while “Niagara Centre Liberal MP Vance Badawey said Morufat and her family have been “an integral part of the community,” citing her volunteer hours at the Hope Centre, Holy Trinity Anglican Church and St. Vincent de Paul.”
Yet it remains glaring that the Liberal Government’s Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen is advocating for open-door immigration to Canada, and that Justin Trudeau has defended the right of Islamic State fighters to return to Canada, but this Christian family — who have endeared themselves to their community — is facing deportation to jihad-infested Nigeria.
A spokeswoman for the Ogunkoga family told LifeSiteNews about a dire warning that came from Morufat’s own mother. The spokeswoman stated:
They ran because her mother wrote her a letter saying that she is very disappointed that (Morufat) is a Christian, but she must run because her father wants to kill (her) to become higher in the organization….She added that Morufat’s mother has since died.
“Canadian govt may deport refugee Muslim family who converted to Christianity and faces death upon return,” by Dorothy Cummings McLean, Lifesite News, September 18, 2019:
WELLAND, Ontario, September 18, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― A Christian family, who converted from Islam and are now illegal refugees in Canada, is in danger of being deported back to their native country of Nigeria where they say they face certain death for abandoning Islam for faith in Jesus Christ.
“They face a ‘fatwa’ (a pronouncement of death) against them for converting to Christianity from Islam,” Randy Lorenz of Canadian Aid to Persecuted Christians told LifeSiteNews. “They believe they face certain death if they are returned to Nigeria. They are quite fearful.”
Morufat Ogunkoga and her children Viktor, 16, Hephzibah, 14, and Rejoice, 10, are due in immigration court in Mississauga, Ontario, tomorrow afternoon. LifeSiteNews has been credibly informed that they might be taken into custody during the hearing.
Ironically, both Hephzibah and Rejoice were featured in a CBC News photograph with Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau, with an accompanying caption saying they were his supporters. In reality, they and a spokesperson for the family had delivered a plea to Trudeau in person when he appeared in Niagara-on-the-Lake last month.
The Ogunkoga family has lived in Ontario’s city of Welland, near Niagara Falls, since 2018. The family members are converts to Christianity from Islam and allegedly fled Nigeria after a warning that Morufat’s father, a leader in an Islamist extremist group, wanted to harm them.
A spokeswoman for the Ogunkoga family told LifeSiteNews that the warning had come from Morufat’s own mother.
“They ran because her mother wrote her a letter saying that she is very disappointed that (Morufat) is a Christian, but she must run because her father wants to kill (her) to become higher in the organization,” Sonya Wierenga told LifeSiteNews.
She added that Morufat’s mother has since died.
Wierenga is the executive director of Rose City Kids, a charity for which Viktor Ogunkoga is a volunteer. Wierenga explained that she acts as a go-between, facilitating communications between the Ogunkoga family and their immigration lawyer, Peter Solano.
Wierenga alleged that Morufat’s father had harmed both Morufat and her son Victor before leaving Nigeria. The mother of three was burned with an iron, and Victor was cut with a knife. She also alleged that someone in the extended family had arranged a Muslim marriage for Hephzibah before their flight.
Christian groups and activists have called for other Christians to support the Ogunkoga family in their bid to stay in the country. Lorenz told LifeSiteNews that he believes the government is not taking the appropriate time to establish the family’s humanitarian status or to do a proper risk assessment….