Chidimma Adetshina: Home Affairs minister dismisses claims that identity theft probe was dropped

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has dismissed claims that the investigation into the alleged identity theft by Miss Universe Nigeria contestant Chidimma Adetshina’s mother had been dropped.

Schreiber was responding to an interview by Guy Murray-Bruce, president of the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant, on Nigeria’s Arise News.

Murray-Bruce said he extended the invitation to Adetshina to partake in the pageant because they were “trying to help someone who has been abandoned”.

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“No fault of hers. She’s only a victim because she has a Nigerian father and South African mother,” said Murray-Bruce.

However, according to the Department of Home Affairs, prima facie reasons exist to believe that fraud and identity theft may have been committed by the person recorded in Home Affairs records as Chidimma Adetshina’s mother.

‘I don’t have anything on paper’

Murray-Bruce told the news channel on Thursday that he had a conversation with Adetshina earlier this week and she told him there was no truth to the claim her mother was not South African.

“I had a discussion with her and she said that was being investigated. There was absolutely no claim to that story. Her mother is South African. I don’t know if it was cooked up, I have no idea,” he said.

“She tells me her mother is South African, they dropped that case. As of two days ago, I was told they investigated and the mother is South African. It’s a bit twisted. I think it was a case of, she was doing so well in the pageant and they wanted to get her out and used every opportunity to get her out. That’s how I see it.

“I was told that the case has been dropped. I don’t have anything on paper, but I was told that.”

ALSO READ: Chidimma Adetshina withdraws from Miss SA pageant

The case that was dropped was initiated by the Patriotic Alliance in an attempt to interdict Adetshina’s participation in the Miss South Africa pageant.

The party dropped the case after she withdrew from the competition following allegations of identity theft from the Department of Home Affairs.

Watch Murray-Bruce speak on Adetshina

Murray-Bruce further told the channel that Adetshina was in touch with her mother and father, who were both in South Africa. He, however, admitted he had never spoken to her mother.

The important factor, according to the Miss Universe Nigeria boss, is that Adetshina was born to a Nigerian father who gives the right to participate in the pageant.

“She has a Nigerian father. She is a dual citizen and has a Nigerian passport. It makes her a Nigerian as well as she is South African. She is 23 years old. The last time she was in Nigeria she was three years old. She has roots in Nigeria. Her mother’s family is in South Africa. I don’t know beyond that,” he said.

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“I feel she was victimised because her crime is being half Nigerian, half South African if you ask me. That’s where the xenophobia comes in.

“Even if there was a case of identity theft, that wouldn’t be her problem. She was born in South Africa, innocently, to a Nigerian father and South African mother.”

Adetshina investigation ongoing

However, Schreiber says the investigation into the matter has not been dropped by his department.

“The investigation into this matter is active and ongoing, and further updates will be provided only through official channels, including in Parliament,” Schreiber said, in response to the interview.

“Don’t fall for social media untruths. Instead, support #TeamHomeAffairs in our quest to restore law and order by upholding the rule of law.”