US Court Revokes Nigerian Woman's Citizenship for Fraud

On October 21, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the denaturalisation of Vivian Chike Obichere, a Nigerian-born woman, following a federal court ruling that she had illegally obtained her US citizenship. The US District Court for the Northern District of California issued the order revoking her citizenship on October 13, 2026.

Court records revealed that Obichere's fraudulent activities began in 1992 when she used the identity of a real US citizen, referred to as "C.C.O.," to obtain a US passport. She renewed this passport in 2002 and later became a lawful permanent resident under her actual identity in 2003.

In 2012, she attempted to renew the fraudulent passport while applying for naturalisation under her real name, falsely claiming during her interview that she had never used the alias. She was naturalised in 2013, despite her ongoing fraud.

In 2015, she was convicted of making false statements and admitted to multiple lies to the US government. The Justice Department filed a denaturalisation complaint against her on July 30, 2026, leading to the court's revocation order.