Nnenna Joseph received the devastating news her father on the day she was due to fly to London to start her course – Now she is left stranded in London unable to pay her tuition and fears she me be deported back to Nigeria

A university student has been left stranded with over £14,000 in tuition fees after her father’s unexpected death.

Nnenna Joseph, 28, told MyLondon she was due to start a course at the University of London this year but has been been stopped as she is left unable to pay her first tuition instalment of over £7,000.

Nnenna was due to start her course in International Communication and Development, but she states the university is not willing to provide flexibility, as well as no longer sponsoring her visa.

Now she is left stranded in London and may face deportation.

Nnenna has been left heartbroken facing the loss of both her father and her dream course.

She said: “On the first of October I lost a parent.

“He’s always been my shield he has a way of sorting me out, he always had a way of sorting us.

“Right now I feel, we all do the whole family, we’re all at that point where we’re like where is he? Why did he have to leave just right now when we need him the most?”

Nnenna was due to start her course on October 1, flying from Nigeria to the UK where she lived with her parents Joseph and Mary, and her two siblings.

Sadly her father had been feeling unwell for several days but stated he was feeling better – so Nnenna caught her flight to the UK.

But even before she could step foot onboard the plane, she got the heartbreaking call that her father had died.

Nnenna then delayed her trip to the UK by two days after being rocked by the shocking news.

More devastating news followed as Nnenna was told she would be unable to access her tuition money from her father’s account – Nnenna, who was 6,000 miles away in London, was told by her mother she had to be in Nigeria in person to access the money from the bank.

The only option given by the university was “pay your tuition or defer”.

Nnenna tried many times to explain to the university of London her unfortunate situation but they merely offered her one week to pay the tuition or face losing her course.

She added: “Then after that, they said they’d reported me to the home office and disconnected my IT access.

“They could have at least arranged a meeting and had a conversation with me to actually see if I’m genuine or not but they didn’t do that, they just gave me one week to pay and nothing else.”

She claims her tutors offered her support and tried to explain the situation to the registration team but they refused to change their decision.

Nnenna insists she has no family or friends in the UK and no money to support herself – she is now living in fear the Home Office may attempt to deport her after the university notified them.

She currently lives with a friend she met online who has kindly been paying rent for both of them and offering meals.

Nnenna says she has been her ‘strength’ but that the situation makes her feel ‘dreadful’.

To gather funds, Nnenna has set up a fundraiser to raise money for her tuition.

She said: “To the people who’ve already donated I want to say a very big thank you, I am very grateful, gratitude is all I have. I can’t pay anyone back all I have is gratitude and prayers.

“And to those who choose to donate after this I wish that God provides for them to be able to donate, and to those who are just praying for me – because it’s not just donations people are praying and wishing me well.

“I say a very big thank you to them, thank you to every one of you, I pray you never lose a loved one when you need them most, and you never become stranded in a place where you have no friends, no relations, no family.”

If you want to donate to help Nnenna you can do so here.