Woman says she fled to northern Ont. to escape Islamic militants, but court rules she faked evidence

A federal court has rejected a refugee claim from a woman who said she came to Sudbury with her five children after fleeing Nigeria to escape Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group.

A federal court has rejected a refugee claim from a woman who said she came to Sudbury with her five children after fleeing Nigeria to escape Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group.

The woman claimed Boko Haram wanted to force her to join, and she said she was wanted by Nigerian police for not reporting a fellow teacher who was involved in a same-sex relationship.

After several appeals, a judge with the Federal Court denied her appeal for refugee status, ruling that she changed her story over time to boost her claim and that some of the evidence she used was fabricated.

A decision dated Aug. 30 of this year outlines the history of the claim, which began in July 2018.

The woman said that her husband, a Muslim cleric, was being pressured in Nigeria to join Boko Haram and that "members of the group had threatened to kill him and his family if he did not join."

The woman said she and her children twice moved to other parts of Nigeria without her husband, before being attacked in September 2018 by people claiming to be from Boko Haram who said they were looking for her husband.

"After this attack, the principal applicant (the woman) and her husband decided that she and the children should leave for the United States," the court decision said.