British Government ‘killed’ my husband, cries widow

A 64-year-old grieving widow has revealed how her husband’s quest to locate his biological father in Scotland and reunite with him, consumed his life and eventually led to his death.

Mrs. Charity Lawrence Onyechere, thinks her husband would still be alive today, if not that the British government allegedly, ‘frustrated him to death’ by mocking his claim of being a citizen of the country by birth.

To her, the British ridiculing her husband’s claim was tantamount to calling him, “a bastard, which is a great taboo in Igbo land.”

She accused the British Government of depriving her and her kids of knowing where the man was buried and paying their last respect to him.

She lamented: “My husband was born by a British man! The name of my husband’s father is Basil Carson Rogers and no amount of denial by the British Government would take away that fact or conceal it! My husband even went and did DNA to proof his parentage, yet they called him a liar! Telling him that anybody could come to London and claimed to be a citizen!

“Those words shattered my husband. He never stopped talking about it. His last wish before he died was that his kids should be taken to their root, but the British Embassy did not even allow my children to go for his burial.  Right now as I’m speaking with you, we don’t know where his body is buried!”

Mrs. Onyechere said that it was her husband’s last wish that the children should all be taken to Britain, which he insisted, was their root.

Daughter now  with spinal cord injury

Grieving Mrs. Onyechere

According to Mrs. Onyechere, it was her husband’s quest to know his father’s homeland that led to his journeying down to London. The Onyecheres and their kids thought that once Lawrence got to London, every doubt about his parentage would be sorted out.

But the situation did not turn out the way they had thought. Lawrence had to later sue the British government over what he termed ‘denial of his citizenship.’

He had also to live in London in order to fight this court battle.  He could not get a job and needed money to get accommodation and pay his lawyers.

He relied on his wife and kids in Nigeria to send him the necessary money. The financial toil became too much for them.

One of the daughters, Mrs. Joy Ayo, would later be involved in a ghastly motor accident, while running from pillar to post, trying to raise money for her father to pay for his accommodation in London.

The auto accident damaged her spinal cord and till date, Joy cannot walk. Joy’s little daughter died in that accident.

Mrs. Onyechere, recalling how Joy lost the use of her legs said: “Joy was the one paying for her father’s accommodation while he was in London. She went to Kaduna with her daughter collect to N500, 000 from a friend.  It was on her way back that they had accident. Do you see what the British government cost me? Joy’s daughter died in that accident!

“British government refused us attending the burial of my husband. Even my daughter was not given visa to go and represent the whole family. They denied us the opportunity of paying last respect to my husband!”

The story of Lawrence Onyechere Rogers started in 1945, when his biological father, Basil Rogers, from Scotland, worked in Jos.

The Scottish man made friends with Nigerians, but became quite fond of one of his coworkers, Mr. Ajomiwe, from Abia State.

Ajomiwe had his elder brother’s daughter, Hannah, living with him and his family. When Rogers saw the young lady, Hannah, he fell in love.

He expressed his desire to make Hannah his wife and Ajomiwe took him to Hannah’s father, who asked him to pay the customary bride price.

When Rogers wanted to go back to Scotland, he told Hannah’s dad, Chief Onyechere, that he would be leaving with his wife and little son, Lawrence, but Chief Onyechere refused. Hannah was his only daughter.

Mrs. Onyechere explained: “Chief Onyechere, Hannah’s dad said that he heard that white people used blacks in their country as slaves. Rogers tried to convince him that as his wife, nobody would make Hannah a slave. The issue was argued for long, until Rogers angrily left for Scotland in 1957.”

According to her, Rogers continued to communicate with his wife until break out of the civil war.

“Everyone was busy trying to run for their lives. It was a terrible time! The Igbos suffered a lot of casualties in that war. We ran away from our villages. We lost everything, including pictures and birth certificates.”

Ajomiwe later died. But before his death, he had started troubling chief Onyechere to send Hannah to her husband in Scotland. The argument and counter argument between the two brothers became a feud, with Ajomiwe’s family allegedly beginning to treat Lawrence like an outcast.

“They called him names and told him to go back to his father’s land. That he was not from their village. My husband became worried and troubled. He asked his mother about his birth, but she refused to tell him about his birth. It was Ajomiwe’s wife who later told him everything about his birth. Since then, he started yearning to meet his father. Even after he married me and we had children, he kept telling me about this desire.”

In 1973, Hannah died. Lawrence was already working as a customs officer with the Nigerian Customs Service.

In 1998, Lawrence embarked on the search for his father. He went to the Salvation Army in Nigeria and narrated his story.

The Nigeria arm of the organization, wrote to its branch in London. They however insisted that Lawrence should come down to London, so that they could see him.

The family rallied round to raise money for Lawrence to travel overseas.

He later wrote to his wife, that he was directed to somewhere called, ‘The Archives,’ where he got details of his father and traced his whereabouts in Scotland.

“Unfortunately, Rogers was dead. He had remarried a woman called Charlotte, who had also died. They left behind a dog. They never had any kids. He got this information from Rogers’ neighbours,” narrated Mrs. Onyechere.

To prove that he was entitled to be a citizen, Lawrence presented documents, showing that Rogers worked at Jos. He also traced the ship which ferried Rogers off Nigerian shores.

One of the problems Lawrence encountered overseas, aside from the British Government doubting his story, was the government rejection of his birth certificate, which was a photocopy. They also insisted that date of issuance of birth, was not on the birth certificate.

“My husband asked me to go to where he was born to get this certificate. The missionary hospital has now become a general hospital. I was asked to swear an affidavit, so that they would know it was genuine. I did all these! I was supposed to couple everything and send to him, but then I got the shocking news of his death,” said Mrs. Onyechere.

“They said he slept and never woke up. The coroner form showed that he died of Brain Stem Haemorrhage and Hypertension. Is it not thinking that causes Hypertension? I tell you, the British government frustrated him to death!  My husband had never suffered from high blood pressure before his death.”

Another document showed that while Lawrence was in London, Home Office UK Border Agency wrote him a letter, indicating they were considering his application for a certificate of entitlement to the Right of Abode in the United Kingdom.

They however asked him to present within 21 days, his original birth certificate, father’s birth certificate, parents’ marriage certificate confirming relationship and legitimized birth as stated and any additional evidence held to help establish the applicants’ relationship with father.

Although Lawrence’s birth certificate was lost during the civil war, it was however reproduced at the hospital where he was born, which has become a general hospital.

The real bone of contention was production of the marriage certificate between Rogers and Hannah, since they married according to ‘Igbo customary law.’

Mrs. Onyechere however felt the British government was being mischievous and appeared determined to thwart her husband’s desire to become a citizen by asking for a marriage certificate.

“Rogers and Hannah married according to customary law, what marriage certificate were they asking for?” queried the widow angrily. “Traditional marriage is acceptable! They are calling my husband a liar and my mother in-law a prostitute! They just wanted to deny my husband his right!”

The crushing disappointment to Lawrence quest and dream was later contained in a letter dated June, 2, 2011.

It was written by Home Office: identity and Passport Service. It reads in part: “…Any claim to UK citizenship by descent needs to be supported by official documentation and from the information and evidence provided by you in support of your client’s application, it appears that your client does not qualify for British citizenship by descent for the following reasons: your client has failed to provide official and original documentation to establish his own birth in Nigeria. The local hospital record is not sufficient evidence of birth and cannot be accepted by the UK identity and Passport Service as evidence of birth. Your client has failed to provide original and official evidence that his father was legally married to his mother before his birth in Nigeria and your client has failed to provide any evidence to establish his identity and relationship to his claimed father…”

Another letter from UK Border Agency, dated June, 7, 2012, states: “Under section 2 of the Immigration Act 1971(which was amended by section 39 of the British Nationality Act 1981), all British Citizens and certain Commonwealth citizens have the right of abode in the United Kingdom.

“You were born in Nigeria in 1954; however, upon Nigeria’s independence on 01 October 1960, you ceased to be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies and became a Citizen of Nigeria.

“Although you claim to be the son of Basil Moore Carson Rodgers and have provided an official copy of his birth certificate, these documents can be obtained from the Scottish Registry Office by anybody making a request and paying the relevant fee, they therefore cannot be relied upon as evidence of a relationship without further supporting original documents…”

To prove her late husband was telling the truth, Mrs. Onyechere presented documents, showing that Rogers left Nigeria to UK in December, 29, 1957.

Another document showed that late Lawrence wrote to the British High Commission, stating his mission to trace his father and attempt to become a citizen.

The document, dated June, 25, 1998, states: “I was born during the British colonial rule in Nigeria to a British father Mr. B.G. Rodger by a Nigerian lady Hannah Onyechere. My father worked then at Amalgamated Tin Mines Nigeria Limited, Bukuru in Jos, Plateau State, as General Mining Assistant. The present name is Consolidated Tin Mines Nigeria Limited. He left Nigeria between December, 26-29, 1957, to head office in London. The head office of ATMN limited in London was 55/61 Moorgate London, EC2R6BH. The last company he worked for before leaving for US was ATMN….”

He had gone ahead to give them the names of two persons who worked with Rogers. He also alighted in his  letter, that Rogers was paying for his Uncle, Reuben Nwanegbo Onyechere school fees, hoping they had investigate his claims.

Towards the end of his letter, Lawrence said: “All I am asking the British Embassy is to allow me and my family to go home to my fatherland, to Britain, the land of my birth.”

In the course of tracing his root, Lawrence located his paternal grandfather, Reverend J. Lyle Rodger. He was a Reverend with Carmyle Parish Church, but had died. He also found that his father had two other siblings.

He had told his wife that he would be going to search for his uncle and aunt, when death snatched him away on December, 19, 2013.

He was buried by members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church in London, which he used to attend. The family received this information from people who had become friends with the late Lawrence.

The journalist got in touch with the British Embassy in Nigeria, attempting to find out if they had any record of Lawrence applying to travel out of Nigeria or suing the British Government and if it would be possible for his kids to be allowed to go to Britain. The journalist had also attempted to find out why Mercy Chiyere Musa Lawrence, one of the daughters was refused Visa to go and attend her father’s burial, but the only information received, from one Rob Fitzpatrick, Head of Press and public Affairs British High Commission Abuja, is thus: “We are unable to comment on individual cases.  However, we are proud of our visa service, which compares favourably to our major international partners.  It is important to recognise the value we attach to a professional service that meets our visa rules and provides the best customer service we can to applicants.  If applicants have concerned about the service they have received they should contact us directly and we will do what we can to address their complaint.”