A pair has been arrested by the UK officials for illegally entering the nation on the basis of a sham marriage. A groom from Nigeria and a bride of Czech origin have been arrested and jailed for faking as a married couple. They have been put in a prison in Lancashire in UK.

According to the UK Border Agency, Idowu Komolafe is from Nigeria and is 34 years of age. He has been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 21 months on charges of perjury and aiding in illegal migration. The Burnley Crown Court has charged him of these offences.

Kveta Pokosova who is a Czech national is 45 years of age. She has been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 16 months on charges of perjury, bigamy and for aiding immigration against the law. Both the detainees have pleaded guilty of the accused charges in a prior court hearing itself.

The pair was arrested after it was found out that about £3,000 was paid to Pokosova. He was paid this amount to go through the wedding ceremony in June 2009. This is a clear case of sham marriage where in a national from a nation outside Europe nation tends to marry a citizen of a country belonging to the EEA. This also includes the UK. Such marriages are considered as a convenient option for attaining a long-term residency visa. Such visa would also permit them to work as well as claim benefits in the nation.

According to Dave Magrath, the Head for the Immigration Crime Team under the UK Border Agency for the north-west region, the imprisonment of these two persons is a clear message for those using such means of sham marriages to counter immigration rules in UK.

He also said that a specialist team of immigration officials along with the police are investigating cases so as to make sure that such people do not evade when they breach the laws of immigration in UK. Be it participating in such a marriage or organizing the same for others, the authorities are ascertained to crack down such people put them to justice.