The marriage certificate forgery, a Nigerian, Mr. Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo, was convicted for in UK has led to a physical attack on his ancestral home at Ikenne in Ogun State.
Shodipo was sentenced to prison in August by a Woolwich Crown Court in the UK alongside other Nigerians found guilty of forging marriage certificates from Nigeria.
The Home Office had issued a statement declaring that more than 2,000 marriage certificates were forged by the convicts, contrary to evidence presented during the trial, which showed that the number of certificates involved, was far less than the quoted figure.
While it originally hit the headlines internationally, Nigerian news media amplified it which resulted in widespread belief that Mr Shodipo orchestrated a nationwide fraud.
In the aftermath of Shodipo’s sentence the public esteem hitherto had for the prominent Ikenne family has declined.
What now subsist are: disdain and hostility towards the family, which reached a boiling point on Sunday evening as unidentified youths beat up the Shodipos, attacking the family members at their ancestral home.
Eyewitnesses traced the immediate cause of the assaults to mockery of a member of the Shodipos at a neighbourhood bar, by a group of guys which degenerated into a free-for-all fight in which the relative was at the receiving end.
“They were all having fun: drinking and exchanging banter when a guy bantered with one of Shodipo family members in their midst, saying, ‘Shodipo is a synonym for dishonesty’ in a thinly veiled reference to the UK issue, which was met by a chorus of approvals.
“Attempt by the relative to counter them with his own snide remarks was drowned out by loads of insults hurled at him by the anti-Shodipo family revellers who went on to descend on him, beating him to a pulp,” sources narrated.The news of the bar incident, according to report spread across the town in no time, and was well-received by several members of the community except those related to the Shodipos.
“The dust of the bar fight had not settled when the Shodipo family house came under attack by hoodlums armed with stones, sticks and cutlasses who beat up those they found inside, leaving several people injured and a portion of the property destroyed,” this medium was told.It was gathered that the Shodipos are now treated as social pariahs owing to locals’ mischaracterization of the matter that transpired in the UK.
“To most Ikenne residents, the perception they have about the issue, is that it harms the reputation of the town.
“Unfortunately, the stigma goes beyond the immediate community because the UK incident was widely publicised,” observers alleged.Before they added: “The Home Office’s claim of 2,000 forged certificates was widely publicised, gaining attentions of several Nigerians, many of whom developed hostility towards those linked to the scandal.
“There’s no way that convicted Shodipo guy would be safe anywhere in Nigeria because already there are concerns about the availability of state protection in matters like this, which the authorities often deemed as traditional disputes, leaving victims without meaningful recourse.
“When young men attack under the pretext of defending community honour, the police usually stay away.
“The combination of false international publicity, family harassment, and community violence illustrates the real risk to Mr. Shodipo’s safety if he were returned to Nigeria.”
