In a story that made the rounds last week, a star high-school basketball player in Windsor, Ontario was arrested after it was discovered that he was actually a 29-year-old posing as a teenager. Now, that player is saying even he was in the dark about his true age.
Jonathan Nicola came to Canada on a student visa after fleeing the war-torn South Sudan late last year and immediately became a basketball star at Catholic Central High School thanks to his size, athleticism and skill set. The 6-foot-9 big man (literally) was living at the home of the school’s basketball coach for around six months before his real age was discovered, when his fingerprints matched a previously failed visa application under the same name.
After being arrested for violating the Immigration Refugee Protection Act, Nicola is claiming that he wasn’t lying about his age…he just didn’t know how old he really was because his mother “kept telling him different ages.”
“I aways keep asking what is the specific age that I was born, and she has told me that she could not remember,” he told the April 19 hearing.
“Over (in South Sudan) . . . not every year we study . . . we always keep moving to different schools, and over there, they do not ask your age. They do not ask you nothing,” Nicola said.
Nicola’s passport and visa listed his birthday as Nov. 25, 1998, but authorities have his date of birth listed as as Nov. 1, 1986. He claims that his paperwork was filed by a Sudanese basketball coach, but couldn’t provide details about the coach or his whereabouts.
At a hearing this week, the 29-year-old said he only came to Canada with the hopes of getting a good education so that he could provide for his family back in Sudan. He pleaded with officials to release him back to his home country for the sake of his “family and mental health,” but that request was denied because it is believed he deliberately lied and forged documents to pursue a better life.
Nicola’s next hearing is set for late May, when it will be determined if he is to remain in Canada or be sent back home.
(Via Windsor Star)
