The U.S. government has arrested a 40-year-old Nigerian, Ifeoma Inneh, for claiming to be an American citizen.

U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced that the Nigerian national was arrested on June 4, 2021, at the Cyril E. King Airport on criminal charges related to her alleged misrepresentation that she was a United States citizen.

According to court documents, the 40-year-old Inneh appeared at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspection checkpoint at the Cyril E. King Airport, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on June 4, 2021. She was a ticketed passenger on a flight travelling to Newark, New Jersey.

In primary and secondary inspection, Ms Inneh told CBP officers that she was a U.S. citizen. However, the CBP officers determined that Ms Inneh was not a citizen of the U.S.

The U.S. authorities are charging Ms Inneh with “knowingly making a false claim to the United States citizenship in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 911, and making material false statements to CBP Officers in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the Government of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2).”

If convicted, Ms Inneh faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.

“A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors,” said the U.S. Department of Justice in a statement made available to Peoples Gazette.

The Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations and CBP are investigating the case.