Ugandan – UK based businesswoman, Vanessa Atim and her mother Stella Oyella have been Apprehended in UK for funding terrorist relative in Syria.
According to the telegraph, the pair funnelled cash through Uganda and the Middle East to give to relative who went to fight for Islamic state in 2014.
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 to cover their tracks, sending the money through contacts in Uganda and the Middle East.
Oyella and Atim 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 leds the Met’s counter Terrorism Command disclosed that Oyella and Atim 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.
