NIGERIAN STUDENT JAILED 27 MONTHS IN US OVER ILLEGAL FIREARM POSSESSION, FACES DEPORTATION
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
A 23-year-old Nigerian student in the United States, Godson Oghenebrume, has been sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm and discharging it multiple times during a domestic dispute involving his former girlfriend.
The conviction was announced by the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, Kurt Wall, in a statement issued on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Oghenebrume was sentenced by U.S. Chief Judge Shelly Dick after being convicted of possessing a firearm while admitted into the United States under a non-immigrant F-1 student visa.
The US Attorney’s Office said the Nigerian student would also face deportation upon completing his prison sentence.
“Following the completion of his sentence, Oghenebrume is also subject to removal or deportation from the United States,” the statement said.
Court documents showed that Oghenebrume admitted to possessing a Glock Model 43X 9mm pistol on February 7, 2025, in violation of federal laws governing non-immigrant visa holders.
Prosecutors said the incident occurred after Oghenebrume’s former girlfriend, who is also the mother of his infant child, arrived at his apartment with the baby and found him in the company of another woman.
An argument reportedly broke out outside the apartment, during which Oghenebrume allegedly fired the weapon while the infant was present.
According to the prosecution, the dispute continued after the former girlfriend entered the apartment and discovered him with the other woman.
The confrontation later spilled outside, where Oghenebrume allegedly discharged the firearm several more times as his former girlfriend fled the scene.
Investigators said multiple bullet impacts were later found on the walls of the apartment complex.
Prosecutors further alleged that Oghenebrume smashed his former girlfriend’s mobile phone and took custody of their child before another woman at the scene intervened and safely retrieved the baby.
The statement added that Oghenebrume attempted to evade arrest when deputies from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office arrived at the apartment complex.
According to investigators, he ignored officers’ commands, walked away and threw the Glock pistol into nearby shrubs before he was apprehended.
A neighbour reportedly told investigators he heard the gunshots and said the noise was so loud that “his ears had been ringing.”
During a post-Miranda interview, Oghenebrume admitted firing the weapon but claimed he only intended to frighten his former girlfriend into leaving.
“He claimed that he had wanted his ex-girlfriend to go home and that he had shot the gun to scare her away,” the statement said.
The conviction comes amid continued immigration enforcement by United States authorities against foreign nationals convicted of criminal offences.
Only recently, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported another Nigerian national, Ayodeji Ajayi, following multiple criminal convictions, including domestic violence, after determining that he had remained in the country illegally after entering on a student visa.
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