The United Kingdom has warned international students whose visas have expired to leave the country or risk deportation.

The Home Office, in a new enforcement campaign, said it has begun sending direct text and email messages to students, marking the first time such a measure is being applied.

According to the BBC, about 10,000 students whose visas are due to expire have already received the messages, while tens of thousands more will be contacted in the coming months.

The message from the Home Office reads: “If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”

The agency also warned that asylum claims considered “lacking merit” would be swiftly rejected.

Data released by the Home Office showed that between July 2024 and June 2025, a total of 41,100 asylum claims were lodged by people who had entered the UK legally on visas, with students making up the largest share.

Figures indicated that international students filed 16,000 asylum claims in 2024, almost six times the number recorded in 2020. Although the number has since dropped by about 10 percent, the British government said it expects a further reduction.

The department noted that asylum claims by skilled worker visa holders have decreased within the same period.

Earlier this year, the UK government reduced the period foreign graduates can remain in the country after completing their studies, cutting it from two years to 18 months.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and other prominent leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have said the party’s forthcoming national convention in Ibadan, Oyo State, can only hold peacefully if leadership positions remain open, inclusive, and competitive.

The resolution was reached at a closed-door meeting in Abuja, which began late Monday night and ended Tuesday morning.

Ortom Reads Communiqué

Former Benue governor Samuel Ortom read the group’s communiqué, warning that any attempt to exclude legitimate members or ignore court rulings could invalidate the convention.

> “A credible National Convention must be anchored on transparency, fairness, inclusivity, and respect for the rule of law,” Ortom said.
“Failure to comply shall render any purported convention invalid, as legitimate members would be disenfranchised.”

Demands by the Stakeholders

The group, calling themselves Eminent Leaders and Concerned Stakeholders of the PDP, issued several demands:

• Fresh congresses in Ebonyi and Anambra states, in line with court judgments.
• A new South-East zonal congress.
• Recognition of the South-South congress held in Calabar, which has court backing.
• Immediate congresses in Ekiti local governments, in obedience to court rulings.
• No micro-zoning of positions, with the National Chairman retained in the North-Central, per the 2021 zoning formula.

Call for Unity

The leaders said the PDP stood at a “defining crossroads” and urged inclusivity, fairness, and reconciliation to preserve the party’s relevance as Nigeria’s main opposition.

“Only then can the PDP speak with one voice, act with one heart, and march with renewed strength toward victory,” the communiqué added.

Attendees

Those present included Sam Anyanwu (National Secretary), Dan Orbih (South-South Vice Chairman), former governors Okezie Ikpeazu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and Ayodele Fayose, as well as ex-senator George Sekibo, Rivers Speaker, Sen. Philip Aduda, Hon. Micah Jiba, some BoT members, and state chairmen.

Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai accused the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) of mishandling the country’s counter-insecurity efforts and attempting to silence criticism by labelling dissenters as unpatriotic.

El-Rufai criticised what he called a misguided “non-kinetic” approach to insecurity, claiming that officials are paying and feeding bandits instead of confronting them directly.

In response, ONSA dismissed the accusations as “baseless and false”, urging el-Rufai to refrain from politicising national security and stressing that combating banditry must remain a collective endeavour, not a tool for partisan score-settling.

In a follow-up statement, el-Rufai insisted that calls for accountability should never be conflated with the politicisation of security.

“It is a well-known fact to discerning Nigerians that the face of the politicisation of national security for politically intended purposes resides, for the first time in our recent history, in the ONSA under its present leadership.”

He urged ONSA to subject its tactics to scrutiny:

“If the ONSA thinks Nigerians are not following its unclear and incompetent management of terrorism and banditry in Northern Nigeria and beyond… then it is high time it carried out an in-depth evaluation and review of its actions.”

El-Rufai also cited tangible evidence, such as video and audio recordings from traditional and religious leaders, showing that communities have condemned alleged payments to bandits.

He further criticised ONSA for favouring protocol and media image over effective security operations, notably censuring the public display of supposedly “rescued” victims—claiming many of those rescued had paid ransom prior to media coverage.

“In the megalomania of the National Security Adviser, every attempt to hold him accountable is politicisation of security, every perceived enemy of his is a security risk, and every critic of a purportedly democratic government is unpatriotic. What a shame!”

El-Rufai accused the Kaduna State government of suppressing reports on security threats by stifling local media outlets—citing his own administration’s practice of publishing quarterly and annual security reports as a model of transparency.

He called on both ONSA and the Kaduna government to publicly disclose the locations and operational details of the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration programs for purported “repentant” bandits.