United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
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No. 10-2259
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Michael Chijioke Osuji, *
*
Petitioner, *
* Petition for Review of
v. * an Order of the Board
* of Immigration Appeals.
Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General *
of the United States, *
*
Respondent. *
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Submitted: June 15, 2011
Filed: October 5, 2011
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Before LOKEN, BEAM, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.
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LOKEN, Circuit Judge.
Michael Chijoke Osuji, a citizen of Nigeria, entered the United States in August
2004, stayed past the period authorized by his non-immigrant visa, and applied for
asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture
(“CAT”), claiming past persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution on
account of his Christian religion. After a hearing, the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denied
relief. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed in a separate opinion.
Osuji petitions for judicial review of the BIA’s final order of removal, arguing that he
is eligible for asylum. We review the administrative record under the substantial
evidence standard and affirm “unless the evidence was so compelling that no
reasonable factfinder could fail to find the requisite fear of persecution.” Ladyha v.
Holder, 588 F.3d 574, 577 (8th Cir. 2009) (quotation omitted). We deny the petition
for review.
Roughly an equal percentage of Muslims and Christians live in Nigeria,
Muslims predominately in the North and Christians predominately in the South.
While Nigeria’s Constitution provides for freedom of religion, the administrative
record includes articles reporting that hostility between Christians and Muslims
“remains acute in certain areas” and detailing outbreaks of religious violence in
northern Nigeria. At the time in question, Osuji’s father worked for the Nigerian
government. The family lived and attended a Christian church in the Territory
encompassing Abuja, where both Muslims and Christians reside in large numbers.
Osuji, then a teenager, attended Christ the King College, a large Catholic school.
Osuji, the only witness at the asylum hearing, testified that in 2000 he
accompanied a Christian youth group on a trip to another school. Persons Osuji
believed to be Muslim gang members stopped the group’s bus, ordered the group to
exit, and told them to stop preaching or “something bad [was] going to happen.”
Osuji reported the incident to his principal, who promised to call the police if it
recurred. About two months later, on a visit to an orphanage, the youth group’s bus
encountered a rally and roadblocks. Muslim gang members stopped the bus (and
other vehicles), ordered the group to exit, told them to stop preaching, whipped them
with sticks, and told them to run away. Osuji sustained a cut on his knee. The bus
driver returned the children to school. Osuji reported the incident to the police, who
promised to investigate. When Osuji later inquired, the predominantly Muslim police
said they were still investigating. Osuji also testified to harassment by Muslim
members of his local soccer team.
Concerned about persistent religious harassment of his family, Osuji’s father
obtained a transfer to the Nigerian Embassy in Belgium, where the family relocated.
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Osuji came to the United States in 2004 and sought but was denied a student visa. His
Christian parents returned to Nigeria in 2006 and have lived in Abuja without
incident. Osuji’s asylum application was untimely, but the BIA denied relief on the
merits, so the timeliness issue is not before us.
In denying relief, the IJ concluded that Osuji was credible, but that the school
bus and soccer team incidents did not rise to the level of past persecution because he
did not suffer physical harm and failed to show that the government condoned or
could not control the alleged Muslim persecutors. The BIA upheld the IJ’s
determination that Osuji “failed to meet his burden of establishing past persecution or
a well-founded fear of persecution on account of one of the statutorily protected
grounds.” The BIA concluded that Osuji’s “fear of Muslim gangs in general, did not
rise to the level of past persecution, and that he failed to establish a nexus between his
current fear of persecution by Muslims and an enumerated ground.” The BIA noted
that Osuji’s parents continue to live in Nigeria unharmed.
Osuji argues that the BIA erred in finding that he did not establish past
persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution. We disagree. Persecution
is a rigorous standard. “Absent physical harm, subjecting members of an unpopular
faith to hostility, harassment, discrimination, and even economic deprivation is not
persecution unless those persons are prevented from practicing their religion or
deprived of their freedom.” Woldmichael v. Ashcroft, 448 F.3d 1000, 1003 (8th Cir.
2006); accord Quomsieh v. Gonzales, 479 F.3d 602, 606 (8th Cir. 2007) (harassment
and unfulfilled threats of injury are not persecution). Here, Osuji suffered harassment
but little if any physical harm from the Muslim gangs and his soccer teammates, and
his family continued to practice their Christian religion.
Moreover, unidentified persons not connected with the government committed
the persecution alleged by Osuji. An asylum petitioner must establish that assaults
committed by private persons “were either condoned by the government or were
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committed by private actors that the government was unwilling or unable to control.”
Beck v. Mukasey, 527 F.3d 737, 740 (8th Cir. 2008). Osuji presented no evidence
that the Nigerian government condoned the religious harassment. The Department of
State country report on Nigeria in the administrative record suggests that, while ethnic
and religious violence is all too common, the government does not condone it. Nor
was the harassment of Osuji severe or pervasive enough to establish that the
government was unable or unwilling to control it.
Having failed to prove past persecution, Osuji also failed to show a “pattern or
practice” of religious persecution in Nigeria that would establish that he has a well-
founded fear of future persecution. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.13(b)(2)(iii). To constitute a
pattern or practice, the persecution “must be systemic, pervasive, or organized.”
Woldmichael, 448 F.3d at 1004. The BIA correctly noted that Osuji's claim is
“diminished” by the fact that his parents continue to live, work, and practice their
religion in Abuja unharmed. See Ladyha, 588 F.3d at 579.
We have carefully reviewed the administrative record and conclude that
substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that Osuji is ineligible for
asylum or other relief because he failed to demonstrate past persecution or a well-
founded fear of future persecution. Accordingly, we deny the petition for review.
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