News
Home Office criticised over handling of Sri Lanka scientist’s asylum claim

Home Office criticised over handling of Sri Lanka scientist’s asylum claim
A scientist conducting groundbreaking research into renewable energy is facing deportation with his family to Sri Lanka, where he experienced torture, after receiving contradictory information about his case from the Home Office.
Dr Nadarajah Muhunthan, 47, his wife Sharmila, 42, and their three children, aged 13, nine and five, came to the UK in 2018 after Muhunthan, who is working on thin-film photovoltaic devices used to generate solar energy, was given a prestigious Commonwealth Rutherford fellowship. The award allowed him to come to the UK for two years to research and develop the technology. His wife obtained a job caring for elderly people in a nursing home.
The family are Tamils, a group that has experienced persecution in Sri Lanka.
In November 2019, Muhunthan returned to his home country for a short visit to see his sick mother. While there he was arrested and persecuted by the Sri Lankan government. He managed to escape and returned to the UK, where he claimed asylum on the basis of what he had experienced on his visit to Sri Lanka. After his scholarship expired in February 2020, neither he nor his wife were permitted to continue working.
A Home Office case worker sent an email on 20 September this year, saying the family’s asylum claim was “under active consideration”, and another email on 11 October saying the asylum claim had been refused on 23 August – 28 days before the family were told their case was still under consideration.
The family had been renting accommodation in Bristol and all the children were settled at school there. The couple’s eldest daughter, Gihaniya, received outstanding school reports with a 100% attendance rate and was particularly praised for her achievements in science. She hopes to study to be a doctor when she is older.
The Home Office moved the family from their rented accommodation in Bristol to a London hotel last month, uprooting all three children from school.
The two younger children now have school places but Gihaniya does not and is confined to the hotel.
“It is so boring here. It is like a prison,” she told the Guardian. “I just want to go to school. Sometimes I put on my school uniform and just go and stand in the street.”
When Muhunthan’s scholarship visa first expired, the manager of the nursing home begged the Home Office to allow Sharmila to continue working. “We are in dire need of trained healthcare staff and we urge you to consider Mrs Sharmila Muhunthan’s right to work for us as a matter of urgency,” her manager wrote. The request was refused.
A year after lodging his asylum claim, Muhunthan was given permission by the Home Office to work because his area of expertise was listed as a shortage occupation. However, although he applied for university research jobs, the fact that he did not have UK residency deterred prospective employers.
Both John Penrose, the family’s Conservative MP in Weston-super-Mare, where they previously lived, and their lawyer, who has issued a legal challenge against the Home Office about its handling of the case, criticised the department’s treatment of the family.
In a letter to the home secretary, Priti Patel, on 1 October, Penrose wrote: “This looks like a wholly avoidable situation which has been caused by UK visas and immigration working too slowly.”
The family’s lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC solicitors, said: “There is growing concern over the state of human rights in Sri Lanka, with the UN high commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, noting that ‘surveillance, intimidation and judicial harassment of human rights defenders, journalists and families of the disappeared has not only continued, but has broadened to a wider spectrum of students, academics, medical professionals and religious leaders critical of government policies’.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “All asylum and human rights claims will be carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations.”
News
Lagos sales manager remanded, accused of stealing N32.2m from boss

A 25-year-old sales manager, Olatunbosun Olarewaju, has been remanded in Ikoyi Prison after being accused of masterminding a shocking N32.2 million theft from his employer, just months after securing the job.
The police at Adeniji Adele Division, Lagos Island, said Olarewaju allegedly abused the trust of his boss, Mr Victor Ibe, by selling goods worth N32.2 million and diverting the proceeds into multiple personal accounts before disappearing.
According to police investigators, the lid was blown off the alleged scheme when Ibe conducted an audit and discovered a massive shortfall in stock value.
Acting swiftly, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, launched an intelligence-driven manhunt that led to Olarewaju’s arrest at a hideout in Lagos.
Following the investigation led by Sergeant Abraham Friday, Olarewaju was arraigned before the Tinubu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos Island, on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.
Prosecuting counsel, Inspector Ishola Samuel, told the court that the offences took place between August 2024 and April 14, 2025, at 23 Princess Street, Lagos Island.
He said Olarewaju, entrusted with managing and selling his employer’s goods, instead chose to divert millions of naira into his private coffers.
The offences, Samuel said, contravened Sections 411 and 287(7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Olarewaju, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Presiding Magistrate A.A. Paul granted him bail in the sum of N1 million, with two sureties in like sum, but ordered his remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre until he meets the conditions.
The case has been adjourned until May 27, 2025, for further mention.
News
Military kills over 100 terrorists, rescue 21 hostages — DHQ

The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has announced major successes in its ongoing counter-terrorism and anti-oil theft operations across Nigeria, with over 100 terrorists killed, 100 suspects arrested, and 21 kidnapped victims rescued between April 17 and 25, 2025.
Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, disclosed the achievements in a statement on Friday.
Kangye noted that coordinated offensives across the North East, North West, North Central, South South, and South East regions yielded substantial results.
“In the North East, troops of Operation Hadin Kai launched aggressive offensives leading to the surrender of ISWAP/JAS elements and the elimination of dozens of terrorists,” Kangye said.
In the North West, troops under Operation Fagge Yamma neutralized several insurgents, arrested suspects, and rescued victims in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Katsina States.
In the North Central zone, Operations Safe Haven and Whirl Stroke also recorded significant success. Between April 18–22, troops acting on credible intelligence arrested over 37 criminal suspects in Plateau and Kaduna States.
In the South East, troops under Operation Udoka carried out successful raids in Imo, Enugu, Anambra, and Ebonyi States, killing terrorists, arresting suspects, and recovering arms and explosives. Notably, four kidnapped victims were rescued during these missions.
In the South South, troops of Operation Delta Safe targeted illegal refining sites and oil theft networks, destroying equipment and seizing crude oil and petroleum products worth over ₦94 million.
“Between April 18 and 22, troops made contact with terrorists in several communities, seizing weapons, mobile phones, motorcycles, and IEDs,” Kangye added
News
Pope Francis Laid To Rest In Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica

Pope Francis was buried inside his favourite Rome church after a funeral mass in St Peter’s Square, the Vatican said on Saturday.
Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, was laid to rest during a 30-minute ceremony which started at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in the Italian capital.
Footage shared by the Holy See showed cardinals marking his wooden and zinc coffin with red wax seals.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo is running the Vatican’s day-to-day affairs until a new pope is elected, sprinkled it with holy water after it was lowered into a tomb set inside an alcove.
A reproduction of the pectoral cross worn by Francis during his lifetime hung above it.
Francis had asked that the tomb, located near the altar of Saint Francis, be simple and unadorned, reflecting the humble spirit of his papacy.
The tombstone bears only the inscription “Franciscus” — the pope’s name in Latin.
Its marble is sourced from Liguria, the northwestern Italian region once home to the Argentine pontiff’s Italian ancestors.
Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio, had specified in his will the exact spot he wanted to be buried, in the side nave of the beloved fifth-century AD church.
The pontiff was devoted to the worship of the Virgin Mary and made a point of praying in Santa Maria Maggiore before leaving on trips abroad and upon his return to Rome.
He declared his desire to be entombed there in 2023.
Located in the heart of Rome, the basilica already holds the tombs of seven popes.
But the last one to be buried there was Clement IX in 1669. More recently, popes have usually been buried in St Peter’s Basilica.
One of four papal basilicas in Rome, Santa Maria Maggiore also holds the remains of several other renowned figures, such as the architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who designed St Peter’s Square and its surrounding columns.
Built around 432 AD under Pope Sixtus III, the basilica holds some of the Catholic Church’s most important relics, including an icon of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus, attributed to Saint Luke.
(Channels/AFP)
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