The University of Regina. (Photo courtesy of courosa/ Flickr Creative Commons)

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SASKATOON (CUP) — A group of University of Saskatchewan students have joined in opposing the deportation of Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Amadi, two Nigerian students attending the University of Regina.

U of S graduate Stephen Davis, who met Ordu and Amadi while living in the same U of R residence as the women in 2011, created the Facebook group “Students in Solidarity With Victoria and Ihuoma” to raise awareness of their situation and gather support.

Click here for the original article from The Sheaf

The group has created a petition that asks Vic Toews, the Canadian minister of public safety, and Jason Kenney, the minister of citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, to show compassion for Ordu and Amadi by allowing them to finish their studies at the U of R and states that the consequence of deportation is too severe since the students did not intentionally break Canadian laws and immediately attempted to resolve the issue.

The affair began in 2011 when Ordu realized that the social insurance number given to her only allowed her to be employed on the U of R campus. Ordu had been hired to do demonstrations in a Regina Walmart but, after a few weeks of employment, she learned from a fellow international student that her SIN number did not permit her to work off-campus. She quit immediately and within weeks the Canadian Border Services Agency had arrested Ordu.

Amadi, who began working at the Walmart shortly after Ordu, only became aware of the situation when she was arrested at the store by two CBSA agents who handcuffed and escorted her away from the till where she was stationed.

A departure order was issued to the Nigerian students in November of 2011, giving them 30 days to leave the country. Desperate to remain in Canada to finish their degrees, the women have been seeking sanctuary in a church in Regina since June 19 when they each received a deportation order.

“Students in Solidarity” held their first meeting Sept. 17 where a petition draft was finalized and the group organized its distribution.

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