UK jails Nigerian student over paedophile activities 

A 25-year-old Nigerian student has been jailed for three years after he was caught trying to meet a girl he believed was 14 for sexual activity.

Anderson Ishiekwene, who arrived in the UK on a student visa in August 2025 and lived in Sunderland, was arrested in Washington, Tyne and Wear, on 10 January. He had arranged the meeting with a decoy profile operated by the online paedophile hunter group Guardians of the North.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that the Nigerian first contacted the Facebook profile on 2 January. The conversation quickly moved to WhatsApp. Over the next eight days he exchanged more than 300 pages of messages, even though he was told repeatedly that the person was 14 years old.

Prosecutor Cole Cockburn said Ishiekwene asked about the girl’s school, her uniform and her body. He requested photographs, sent an image of his naked groin and complained when she refused to send pictures in return. He described sharing such images as “a normal thing for people to do in a relationship.” The pair agreed to meet at the Galleries shopping centre so they could kiss and touch each other “like lovers.”

When Ishiekwene got off a bus at the arranged location he was confronted by members of Guardians of the North. Police were called and he was arrested.

Ishiekwene admitted attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child. After a three-day trial a jury found him guilty of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. He had denied that the planned meeting was for sexual purposes.

Sentencing him, Judge Robert Spragg said the activity planned for that day was a precursor to full sexual intercourse on a later occasion. The probation service had concluded there was little doubt he was attracted to children.

In addition to the three-year prison term, Ishiekwene was ordered to sign the sex offenders register and to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The judge said he is likely to face automatic deportation when he is released.

Defence counsel Mark Savage told the court that Ishiekwene previously had an impeccable reputation. He accepted that the conviction had brought disgrace on him and his family, that he would be unable to continue his studies, and that deportation was probable. Character references described him as respectful, hard-working and remorseful.