1604111 (Refugee)

The applicant, a Nigerian national of Yoruba ethnicity and Christian faith, sought a protection visa in Australia. He claimed to be a teacher in Lagos who feared persecution by Boko Haram. The dispute arose when the delegate of the Department of Immigration refused his protection visa application, a decision the applicant sought to have reviewed by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the applicant had a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason, specifically his religion, should he be returned to Nigeria. This required the Tribunal to assess the credibility of the applicant's claims regarding threats from Boko Haram, including an alleged incident of distributing Bibles to students and a subsequent ambush, as well as the reported death of a family member. The Tribunal also had to consider the geographical reach of Boko Haram's activities in Nigeria and whether the applicant's residence in Lagos placed him within the scope of their threat.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, finding the applicant's claims not to be credible. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had initially provided minimal detail in his protection visa application, stating he had not experienced harm and only vaguely fearing "the Islamic group." Crucially, the Tribunal did not accept the applicant's claim to have been teaching in a specific state where the alleged Bible distribution incident occurred, as this was not mentioned in his employment history. Consequently, the Tribunal did not accept that Boko Haram was seeking him for this reason. Furthermore, the Tribunal considered country information indicating that Boko Haram's activities were not prevalent in the southern states of Nigeria, including Lagos, leading to the conclusion that the applicant, as a resident of Lagos, did not have a well-founded fear of persecution from Boko Haram on Convention grounds.