By Erewunmi Peace

A British woman’s dream of love turned into a nightmare after she was defrauded of nearly £200,000 by a Nigerian man posing as her perfect partner online.

The man, Emmanuel Jack, 35, had presented himself as a successful architect on dating websites, targeting vulnerable women seeking genuine connection. He scammed six women, convincing them to send large sums of money under false pretenses — a classic romance fraud technique.

In 2014, Jack was arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to three years in prison in the UK for his crimes, which totaled £186,000 in losses for his victims.

However, the story didn’t end there.

After serving his sentence, Jack married a British woman and started a family. The couple now has two children — both of whom require ongoing specialist NHS care for medical conditions that cannot be adequately treated in Nigeria.

In 2022, the UK Home Office revoked Jack’s British citizenship and issued a deportation order, arguing that his previous crimes made him a threat to public trust. But in a March 2025 ruling, a London immigration tribunal blocked the deportation, citing the children’s welfare.

The judge ruled that deportation would cause “unduly harsh consequences” for Jack’s family, particularly due to Nigeria’s limited capacity to provide equivalent medical care.

While many sympathize with the needs of the children, the ruling has sparked public debate over justice, accountability, and the UK’s handling of convicted fraudsters.

“I was in love with a lie,” one of the victims told investigators during the original trial. “He was never who he said he was. He destroyed my trust — and my savings.”

Jack remains in the UK with his wife and children, protected from deportation on humanitarian grounds, while his victims are left with emotional and financial scars that may never fully heal.