Sad News Daily Mail Article: X Factor Contestant Eighteen year old Gamu Nhengu May Be Deported Back To Zimbabwe.
Gamu-mania! X Factor protests grow as fans flock to show their support
By Sara Nathan and Liz Thomas
Last updated at 11:33 PM on 6th October 2010
With a crowd this big, you could be forgiven for thinking there was a charttopping superstar in town.
But the hundreds lining this usually quiet Scottish street had come to support rejected X Factor contestant Gamu Nhengu as she began a battle to stay in the UK.
Police cordoned off the road as more than 400 fans gathered outside the 18-year-old’s home in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire.
Local support: Fans gathered outside the Scottish flat where Gamu lives with her family
Bring back Gamu! Members of the public congregate outside the flats, hoping to chance a glimpse of the X Factor contestant
The final blow: Gamu Nhengu has been ordered to return to Zimbabwe after the family’s visa application was refused by immigration officials
Miss Nhengu is facing deportation to Zimbabwe after Home Office officials alleged that her mother, Nokuthula Ngazana, was wrongly claiming benefits.
Last night, a show source said: ‘Gamu is in tears. This is all terribly hard for her and her family.’
But solicitor Frances Farrell revealed that she will seek a judicial review to appeal the Home Office decision to turn down the family’s visa application.
Police took the unusual step of closing Gamu’s road to traffic, after crowds spilled out into the street
Outrage: Thousands of viewers threatened to boycott the show’s lucrative voting phone lines unless she was brought back on the show
She added: ‘We wish to stress that while this is pending no steps can be taken to remove our client or her family from the UK.’
As well as the mob of well-wishers outside her home, Miss Nhengu has received encouragement from politicians, human rights campaigners, and even Simon Cowell.
As X Factor stepped up security outside Miss Nhengu’s house, a source close to Mr Cowell said: ‘This is out of Simon’s hands, but of course he will be there for Gamu and her family and has offered his support.’
Police presence: Officers ensured calm outside Gamu’s modest family home
ITV received 600 complaints after the Mail revealed how judge Cheryl Cole was told by producers not to pick the singer
Benefits claim: Gamu’s mother Nokuthula Ngazana is alleged to have broken immigration rules by claiming tax credits while working as a nurse
At the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, Foreign Secretary William Hague warned: ‘We mustn’t do things differently just because people are in the news.’
But Labour MP Gordon Banks said Scottish Secretary Michael Moore should ‘bang heads together’ and help Miss Nhengu, who is one of his constituents.
Miss Nhengu moved to Scotland with her brothers Milton, now 11, and Marty, now nine, after their mother began studying at Stirling University and qualified as a nurse.
Miss Ngazana, 38, had leave to remain in the country with her dependants until August 29 this year.
However, she is believed to have claimed child tax credit and working tax credit worth thousands of pounds during her eight-year stay – which is against immigration rules.
More than 220,000 fans have signed up to a Facebook page protesting Cheryl Cole’s decision to leave Miss Nhengu out of the X Factor’s final 12.
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