60 Nigerians die in UK with no heirs, unclaimed estates

A treasury solicitor’s list of unclaimed estates in the United Kingdom (UK) has shown that 60 properties belong to deceased Nigerians.

In the list updated on Monday, the majority of the names that appeared to be male showed that most of the Nigerians were born in their home country, with Lagos cited in multiple instances as their place of birth.

Only a handful were born in other states, like Rivers and Ondo, with another small group born in the UK.

Many were also unmarried, with a common pattern of no known kin spotted among all the names. Only one Charles Ayodele Aliu, born in November 1935, had “a possible cousin in Nigeria” listed as a next of kin.

TheCable observed that most of the deceased individuals were born in the 1930s and 1940s, with the oldest person born in 1919 and the youngest born in 1994, suggesting a wave of Nigerian immigration to the UK in the mid-20th century.

The vast majority died in London and its boroughs. Other locations include Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, and Derby.

Many of the Nigerians were also observed to have used aliases or alternative spellings of their names.

A handful of the estates were reported by local councils or boroughs; others were reported by banks, including Barclays, Santander, HSBC, and TSB, while a few were reported by hospitals or healthcare trusts.

The UK Home Office has advised individuals who believe they are entitled to claim an estate to send a family tree showing relations to the deceased, including the dates of birth, marriage, and death of all those on the tree.

A full list of the unclaimed estates can be found here.