Nigerian Sentenced To Federal Prison For Threatening Family Of ICE Agent

WICHITA, KAN. – A Nigerian student who was convicted of possessing a firearm that he fired from a Wichita apartment balcony has been sentenced to an additional five years in prison for threatening the family of a federal agent, U. S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced Friday.

The Nigerian, Osayuwame Bazuaye, 22, had resided in Wichita since 2008, entering the United States on a student visa. Bazuaye attended Butler County Community College and Wichita State University. In January 2012 he was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The charge was the result of an incident at Bazuaye’s apartment near 21st and Woodlawn in Wichita during which he fired a handgun from his balcony.

While in custody on those charges, in October 2012, Bazuaye allegedly threatened to sexually assault the wife and daughter of a deportation officer of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was convicted May 1 by a federal jury here of making those threats and was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Eric F. Melgren. The judge ordered a 60-month sentence to run consecutively to the 24-month sentence he is serving in the firearms arms case.

“Our deportation officers, immigration agents and Homeland Security investigators tend to get overlooked for the difficult jobs they do,” Grissom said Friday. “They have the very difficult task of dealing with a wide range of immigration issues that most people know little or nothing about. I will not tolerate threats against immigration officers or any other federal law enforcement officers or their families.”

Bazuaye faces removal to Nigeria after he completes his federal prison sentence. Grissom praised ERO for its investigation of the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson for his prosecution.