U.S. immigration courts granted asylum to 1,372 Nigerians between 2022 and 2024, though approval rates dropped by 25% in 2024. Notable cases include a chess prodigy fleeing Boko Haram and an LGBTQ activist escaping violence.
At least 1,372 Nigerians secured asylum in the United States between 2022 and 2024, according to new data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
Findings by Saturday PUNCH show U.S. immigration judges granted asylum to 475 Nigerians in 2022, 514 in 2023, and 383 in 2024—a 25 percent decline between 2023 and 2024.
Among the notable recipients was 12-year-old chess prodigy Tani Adewumi, whose family fled Boko Haram threats and won asylum in late 2022. In 2024, LGBTQ activist Edafe Okporo also gained protection after documenting life-threatening violence in Nigeria.
During the same period, at least 1,534 Nigerian asylum applications were denied: 603 in 2022, 666 in 2023, and 265 in 2024, marking a 56 percent drop in denials since 2022. Additionally, 68 cases were marked “abandoned,” and 552 were classified as “not adjudicated.”
The EOIR’s annual report shows Nigerians filed the most African asylum claims in 2022 and 2023, but in 2024, Cameroonians led with 527 claims, ahead of Nigerians (383) and Ethiopians (291).
Globally, Russian nationals received the most asylum grants in 2024 with 3,605 approvals, followed by China, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
Under U.S. law, asylum seekers must demonstrate a “well-founded fear” of persecution, though legal hurdles and tight deadlines often derail claims before hearings occur.