Student arrested for illegal residency in north Cyprus tells court not to waste its resources deporting him as he already bought his flight ticket

A student who was arrested for residing illegally in north Cyprus told authorities not to waste their money in deporting him because he already bought his ticket back home.

The student, R.O.O, 28, a Nigerian was taken to the Lefkosia District Court on Thursday, Jan., 11 on charges of living illegally in north Cyprus without a resident permit.

Police said he was identified and arrested at around 7:00pm on Wednesday, Jan., 10, by the Lefkosia Police Department CÖŞ teams who were patrolling the Küçük Kaymaklı region. 

Police said they they accosted him when they noticed his suspicious movement.

Immigration checks carried out on him revealed that he had been living illegally in north Cyprus without a resident permit for 780 days since November 21, 2021.

Police said that the suspect did not take any legal procedure after entering the country with a student visa.

Stating that investigation was completed, the police requested that the suspect be sent to the central prison for some time before trial.

The student who spoke after the police in court said he already bought a plane ticket to leave the country on January 30, 2024, three days ago and wants to go home with his own ticket, so that the TRNC government would not pay deportation costs.

Evaluating the testimony in court, the judge ordered the suspect to be sent to prison for a period not exceeding 15 days until trial. The judge said he can meet with his family during this period.

In a similar development, two other people who were also arrested for living illegally in north Cyprus were sent to prison for a period not exceeding 15 days until trial. 

The suspects who are both Nigerians were noticed by the Crime Prevention Branch teams patrolling Ahmet Ruso Street in Gönyeli at around 11:00pm on January 11, 2024. They were found to have resided in the TRNC without permit for 408 days since November 9, 2022.

They also told the court that they could buy their own tickets and that they wanted to go to their country, Nigeria.