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US revokes more than 500 foreign student visas
No fewer than 500 foreign students have had their US visas revoked in recent weeks, as Donald Trump’s administration doubles down on its crackdown on universities.
Nafsa, a network of universities and individuals engaged in international education and exchanges, told the Financial Times on Tuesday it had identified 500 visa revocations by compiling reports from higher education institutions across the US.
“This is uncharted territory on so many levels,” Fanta Aw, chief executive of Nafsa said. “It’s at an unprecedented level and it’s quite concerning because there is a lack of clarity which is creating anxiety.”
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State are implementing a wave of actions against university students across the country. Institutions are often unaware that their students have been targeted so cannot easily track their cases or offer support.
The state department’s visa revocations require students to leave the US and reapply for visas after fresh scrutiny. Separately, the homeland security department has triggered “status termination”, Aw said. In both cases, she added, the processes for appeal were unclear.
“There will be a tsunami of legal cases coming,” she warned.
Multiple reports have arisen of foreign students and university employees being taken to detention centres and subsequently facing deportation.
A number of universities have issued warnings to students and faculty against travelling abroad for fear of arbitrary questioning or detention on returning to the US.
Aw said reports of visa revocations had spiralled from students at elite universities — including Stanford, Harvard and Columbia — to a far wider range of higher education institutions across the country. They targeted many different nationalities for a variety of reasons, including for traffic violations.
Since Trump’s election, a growing number of US-based faculty have sought jobs elsewhere, and increasing numbers of high school and college students are applying to universities abroad.
The Central European University in Vienna on Tuesday said US applicants for its programmes in the upcoming academic year had jumped one-quarter, while the University of Toronto reported a “meaningful” rise compared to past years.
On Monday, 16 associations of US universities called for a briefing from the homeland security and state departments, after uncoordinated orders from the authorities requested students to “self-deport”.
The group said the orders contained “no additional information about how to appeal this decision or verification to ensure that mistakes are not being made in identifying these individuals”.
The association warned of the implications for the country given the 1mn international students attending US colleges and universities, who contributed an estimated $43.8bn to the economy, created 375,000 domestic jobs and contributed “to institutions’ intellectual vibrancy and the global literacy of domestic students”.
The homeland security department did not reply to a request to comment.
… PDP is going into extinction-Awwal
Ex-House of Representatives member, Hon Teejay Yusuf has insisted that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP can never go into extinction even with one serving governor.
Recall that Governor of Delta State, Hon Sheriff Oberovwori and his immediate past principal and running mate to PDP’s flag bearer, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa defected to the ruling party, All Progressives Congress APC on Wednesday.
Teejay Yusuf, a vibrant and never say die three-term lawmaker while appearing on Channels tv on Thursday morning did not mince words when he declared that the PDP will bounce back soon.
Countering this position, an APC chieftain, Hassan Awwal said the PDP was going into extinction and by 2027 may not have more than one governor.
Teejay Yusuf also rubbished this position declaring that with even just one governor, the PDP will bounce back into the mainstream.
Giving instances of parties like CPC, ACN, APGA and others that had one governor but never died.
Details shortly….
Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered 54 banks to immediately return a total of N9,329,322,870 fraudulently transferred by hackers from an unnamed old generation bank.
The judgment, delivered on April 15, 2025, follows an ex parte motion filed in suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025.
The court directed the financial institutions to place a Post No Debit restriction on all accounts that received the stolen funds and to begin the immediate return of all available funds to the originating bank.
The plaintiff bank reported that on March 23, 2025, a breach in its core banking system resulted in unauthorised debits from multiple customer accounts.
The stolen funds—amounting to over N9.3bn—were then dispersed across accounts in 54 financial institutions.
Upon detection of the incident, the bank said it promptly alerted the institutions involved and began tracking the disbursements.
The investigation revealed that the funds were transferred in multiple tranches from the bank into primary accounts and subsequently rerouted to other accounts held by secondary and tertiary beneficiaries.
Justice Dipeolu ruled that the affected banks must provide details of the implicated accounts, including balances and amounts already transferred.
The judge further ordered the immediate return of all recoverable funds to the plaintiff bank.
The financial institutions are also to share comprehensive customer data related to the transactions, including names and destination accounts.
Restrictions are to be maintained on all accounts that received any portion of the funds until full recovery is made, limited to the amount each received.
The judge clarified that the ruling applies strictly to erroneously transferred funds and does not infringe on other customer deposits.
“For the avoidance of doubt and for clarity, the order is only in respect of funds erroneously transferred and sums salvaged,” the ruling emphasised.
Justice Dipeolu concluded that the stolen funds “belong to the plaintiff and not the customers of the respondent banks,” affirming the court’s authority to direct full restitution.
A Nigerian-born United States citizen, Oladapo Fadugba, risks 27 years imprisonment over his alleged involvement in a $690,000 wire fraud scheme and making false declarations to obtain US citizenship.
PUNCH Metro learnt this in a statement by the US Attorney for the District of Florida, Gregory Kehoe, obtained on Wednesday.
According to Kehoe, Fadugba was indicted for multiple charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and making false statements during his naturalisation process.
According to Kehoe, between October 2020 and July 2023, the suspect allegedly diverted $690,000 in funds belonging to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, which was meant for reimbursement to a major local healthcare provider.
It was further alleged that Fadugba used another person’s identity to facilitate the transfers into various bank accounts under his control.
The statement read, “According to the indictment, beginning on October 30, 2020, and ending no later than July 11, 2023, Fadugba had more than $690,000 of Department of Veterans Affairs funds, intended for reimbursement to a large local healthcare provider, transferred to his personal bank accounts.
“Fadugba then wrote cheques to himself or to businesses associated with him, which were subsequently transferred to other bank accounts under his control. It is alleged that he used the identification of another individual to carry out these transfers.”
In addition, Fadugba is accused of lying under oath during his US naturalisation proceedings by falsely stating that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested.
Kehoe stated that, if the suspect was convicted on all counts, he risked a maximum sentence of 27 years in the US federal prison and the forfeiture of $400,000, representing proceeds from the alleged crimes.
“The indictment further alleges that Fadugba, a naturalised US citizen from Nigeria, made a false statement under oath during his naturalisation proceedings by claiming he had not committed any offence or crime for which he had not been arrested.
“If convicted on all charges, Fadugba faces up to 27 years in federal prison. The indictment also includes a notice that the United States is seeking a forfeiture order of $400,000, which reflects the approximate proceeds of the criminal conduct charged,” the statement added.
Kehoe concluded by noting that “an indictment is merely a formal accusation of criminal conduct, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”
PUNCH Metro reported on April 12 that a 24-year-old Nigerian man, Mercy Ojedeji, pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and unlawful use of fraudulent immigration documents in the United States.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, the plea was entered in a US District Court in St. Louis, Missouri.
Ojedeji had admitted to fraudulently securing a student visa and gaining admission into the University of Missouri’s chemistry PhD program in Fall 2023.
He acknowledged using falsified academic transcripts, recommendation letters, a fake resume, and a fabricated English language proficiency report to obtain the visa.
Credit: PUNCH
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