The immigration fortune of Zainab Ettu, a senior prosecutor with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has taken a turn for the worse as she, along with her children and estranged husband, may soon be deported from Canada.
This development follows a ruling by a Canadian federal court, which found insufficient evidence to support her claim that the Eiye Confraternity was harassing her and her family.
Mrs. Ettu, who has prosecuted high-profile cases such as those involving Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors and airline executive Kayode Odukoya, fled to Canada in December 2018.
She claimed that members of the Eiye cult targeted her after she prosecuted some of their leaders.
Court documents obtained by Peoples Gazette reveal that her husband, Saheed Adeyemi Ettu, first moved to Canada in July 2017 for a master’s programme at George Brown College, while she and their children remained in Nigeria.
She claimed that the harassment began in May 2017, shortly after she prosecuted a cult member on fraud charges.
Despite her assertions, Mrs. Ettu’s asylum application was denied, and the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) upheld the rejection.
The court filings highlighted that the family was deemed to have a viable internal relocation option in Port Harcourt, which undermined their asylum claim.
Mr. Ettu, who became estranged from his wife in October 2019, filed a separate appeal but was also unsuccessful.
The court noted that Mr. Ettu had already left Nigeria before the threats against his wife heightened, and there was no evidence that the cult was aware of his appearance or intended to harm him.
Justice Simon Fothergill, in his ruling, made it known that the court could only consider the facts available, such as the estranged status of Mr. Ettu’s relationship with his wife, as indicated in his 2019 tax returns.
The judge dismissed Mr. Ettu’s application for judicial review, concluding that the possibility of reconciliation with his wife was speculative.
