A mother and daughter who sent money to a relative who had joined Daesh in Syria have been jailed, following a pain-staking investigation by specialist Counter Terrorism officers at the Met.
Stella Oyella, 53 (06.04.70), and Vanessa Atim, 32 (11.07.91) both from east London, arranged for more than £1,800 to be sent to Joseph Ogaba, who in 2014 left the UK to join Daesh.
In July 2022, Syrian authorities reported that Ogaba had died whilst in prison, following his capture by Syrian Defence Forces.
Investigators were able to prove that Oyella and Atim knew that the cash was supporting Ogaba’s terrorist activities, and the evidence collected showed how they went to great efforts lengths to cover their tracks, sending the money through contacts in Uganda and the Middle East.
Atim and Oyella were convicted of terrorist fundraising after a complex investigation led by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, with support from Syrian authorities.
On Monday, 18 March, Oyella was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and Atim was jailed for three years and nine months.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said:
“These women went to great lengths to first arrange, and then distance themselves from money transfers to Ogaba. They knew he had travelled to Syria to join a terrorist group and by sending him cash, they helped him remain with Daesh. This case shows how we work with our international partners to close the net on people who support terrorist activity, no matter how much time has passed.”
In September 2014, Ogaba left his home in north London and travelled to Syria, via Germany and Turkey. Ogaba, a Muslim convert, left a note for his family stating that he was going to join Daesh. Oyella is Ogaba’s sister, and Atim is his niece and Oyella’s daughter. On 12 March 2018 and again on 21 December 2018, ports officers detained Atim at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports respectively, using powers under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. On each occasion, devices were seized and the contents downloaded by officers. They recovered messaging app conversations with references to money transactions.
The significance of these conversations became clear in 2019, when detectives analysed a computer hard drive linked to Ogaba and recovered by Syrian authorities the previous year. On that hard drive, investigators found scans of money transfer receipts, and the dates, times and the monetary sums of these transactions aligned with those discussed in the messages. The hard drive also held pictures of Ogaba, including evidence of his activities with Daesh, and extremist content with images of weapons and explosive devices.
Investigators were able to carefully piece together when and how the transactions were done. They established that between March and October 2017, Atim and Oyella arranged for the money to be collected in the UK before being transferred overseas – often first to someone in Uganda, and then to contacts in the Middle East who would pass the cash onto Ogaba.
Commander Murphy added:
“The use of counter-terrorism powers by officers at the airport was crucial in discovering how Ogaba’s family members were supporting him financially. And it was the specialist skills of officers within our National Terrorist Financing Investigation Unit which helped pinpoint the transactions that led to this prosecution.”
Oyella and Atim were interviewed by counter terrorism officers in June and December 2021 respectively, and charged on 11 October 2022. They were found guilty of terrorist fundraising (contrary to section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000), after a trial at the Old Bailey which concluded on 20 December 2023.
Deport them on release. The UK shouldn’t tolerate people who behave like this.
Enhanced interrogation first, would reveal the extent of the problem.
As far as I can find the younger one atim was born and raised in the U.K. the family seem to have high ups in uganda society.
This was reported a few days ago and missing from the above is this salient snippet regards the reaction of the family after the sentence was passed:
“”A burst of swearing broke out from the public gallery as the sentence was passed and calls of “stay strong” were also shouted by supporters as the women were led from the dock.””
Also not mentioned is the mother had sent money to her daughter who was working in Uganda at the time, who in turn resent the money (£2926) from there via Lebanon then to Qatar, so as mentioned they knew exactly what they were doing
Which illuminates the disconnect people like this have between right and wrong, their subscription to eternal victimhood in which to excuse that disconnect, its well past time in which to emulate the French by sending people who hate their host country so much back to the country they call home. Oh and ISIS boy died of tuberculosis whilst rotting in jail
The ECHR holds us back from doing what is right. The death penalty needs to be reintroduced for them and their ilk. They are the same as HAMAS and Al-Qaeda supporters.
You raise some good points Farouk.
The enemy within. Sadly, we import hundreds more every year.
It would be sad Daniele if the majority consented. We never have.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. All the antisemitic demonstrators on our streets are exactly the same, as are the illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel. Jail is not enough, especially in the ISIS recruiting grounds of our prisons. GB needs emergency powers along with a dedicated off shore Internment and Interrogation Centre for these animals. Harsher than the old HM Prison H blocks, something like Guantanamo when it first opened. Where they go without trial and are never seen again. West Falkland or South Georgia would be good locations.
George please consider the penguins on South Georgia.
Penguins can have religious freedom but not the right to impose on others
yeah but it’s never Back & White when it comes to Penguins
I’m sure the Emperor Penguins would have something to say about that statemen.
What a world. Ryan flight to Turkey then 700 years back to the caliphate
Deport. Make this very public.
Slightly off topic but could be Islamist related. (Its Friday, the Islamic holyday where the faithful are led to believe that dying during an act of Jihad on a Friday opens the door to paradise) But it is currently been reported that a gun attack has taken place at a pop concert in Moscow, so far 40 killed and 100 injured.
Bloody hell, just watched a video clip on Twitter. I wonder if this has anything to do with how Moscow (and China) vetoed a US call for a ceasefire at the UN regards Gaza
Farouk.
You’re vastly more knowledgable than me on this.
I’m hearing Russia has “detained” 4 suspects? Are there other examples of Islamist extremists being taken alive? They all seem, from my memory, to blow themselves up, or go down fighting, for Jihad.
Seems v convenient that terrorists armed to the teeth are taken like that. You can see where I’m going with this.
Unless they were “accomplices” and not those directly involved.
Daniele,
Interesting question, Muslims are brainwashed into thinking that dying carrying out an act of jihad will result in a better life and rewards in the afterlife (The so-called x number of virgins) that is why Martyrs are revered in Islam, Islamic scripture bestows even more rewards for those who martyr themselves on a Friday (Islamic holyday) which explains why so many Islamic acts of terror are carried out on a Friday. (as was yesterday) even more is awarded if said acts are carried out during Ramadan. (which it currently is) A form of this mindset can be found within the Palestinian authority where those who carry out acts of terror are rewarded on a sliding scale on the act carried out and the condition of the victor (with those who died receiving the largest rewards, referred to as play to slay by the Israelis)
This is why so many acts of Islamist terror result in the perpetrators death, (this can be substantiated by the 9/11,7/7, Paris , Nice, Westminster bridge, Mumbi )
Regards last nights Moscow attack , Moscow is claiming that 4 out of 4 attackers were captured alive which is strange as the attack took place on a Friday during Ramadan and by heavily armed men who had no problem murdering around 130 people in cold blood. Lets be honest here, the general SOP for all anti-terrorist operations in major cities especially when the terrorists are heavily armed and rampaging amongst civilians is to neutralise the entire threat as quickly as possible , we saw exactly that in London in 2019 when Usman Khan, (wearing a fake suicide vest) was shot 11 times .
Then there is the Russians, who do not have form for taking prisoners when it comes to Islamist terrorists carrying out a gun attack . For example the 2002 Moscow theatre siege which saw around 900 people held hostage by between 40 to 50 terrorists saw all the terrorists killed bar 1
The Beslen school attack in 2004 which saw over 1000 held hostage by 31 terrorists saw all but 1 killed
Yes the FSB have recorded themselves taking Islamist terrorists prisoner (there was one where they arrested one in the middle of Moscow as he was walking towards a bus stop and another in Dec 2017 where they pre-empted a attack in Moscow by ISIS) but those were before the Islamists carried out their attack.
Its interesting how Putin is trying to link last nights attack to the Ukraine . Oh look we found a minibus with Ukrainian plates used by the attackers…The attackers were trying to flee to the Ukraine. The interviews with the attackers state that they were paid to attack Moscow (could be true) but the simple fact of the matter is Moscow is saying (could be true) that 4 heavily armed gunmen who murdered 133 people on a Friday in the middle of Ramadan were taken alive
At this moment in time, I (and no doubt better informed western analysts) simply do not have enough info to go on and will have to wait to see how Putin will react (looks back at the invasion of chetnaya after the Moscow attacks which is now seen as been a Russian false flag)
Oh I forgot to mention there is a video of one of the gunmen having his ear cut off and been fed it by the Russian.
To me, something stinks, for the reasons you state.
Daniele wrote:
“To me, something stinks, for the reasons you state.”
It was most revealing how on Friday (before the above attack) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in an interview with Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty, that Russia is now at war. Which could be the excuse Putin needs in which to end this war by either going hell for leather (There is talk Moscow is building up a huge force in which to take the Kharkiv region, which would allow him to draw a line in the sand and state for us the war is finished, If you continue we will destroy a city or just be stupid and destroy a city because he can. Such an act would also resonate with the “be kind crowd across the west (Looks at Labour, Lib dems , SNP and Greens in the UK) in which to force Kyiv to surrender because they would rather be red than dead. We are already seeing that exact mindset regards Israel .
Apparently the four terrorists were armed with a Kalashnikov model only available to the RF military.
Looks like an FSB false flag operation with some gullible -stan youths mislead into jihad actions yet missing the bigger picture.
FSB couldn’t care less about civilian casualties so long as the attack doesn’t demonstrate that Ukraine can do it and RF security is useless.
Provides additional enemy justification for call up of RF troops without showing Ukrainian competence. Victim RF delusion part of kaputin narrative.
Thank you, I already had the feeling something was off. Even though this latest massacre has been claimed by ISIS-K, it strikes me as odd that the attackers, all four of them, have let themselves be caught alive, assuming that is really the case.