NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 20-2383 _____________ TUNDE ALI ALAO, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA _____________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A087-946-900) Immigration Judge: Andrew R. Arthur _____________ Argued: April 14, 2021 Before: CHAGARES, JORDAN, and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: May 20, 2021) Ben Arad [ARGUED] Jillian Berman Lankler Siffert & Wohl LLP 500 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10110 Zoey Jones Brooklyn Defender Services 156 Pierrepont Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 Counsel for Petitioner Alison Marie Igoe, Senior Counsel for National Security [ARGUED] Daniel I. Smulow, Senior Counsel for National Security Sarah L. Martin United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878, Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent ____________ OPINION * ____________ CHAGARES, Circuit Judge. Tunde Ali Alao petitions this Court to review a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “BIA”) denying his second motion to reopen after the Immigration Judge (“IJ,” and collectively with the BIA, “agency”) denied his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Because the BIA did not meaningfully consider the evidence Alao submitted in support of his motion, we will grant the petition for review, vacate the order denying the motion to reopen, and remand to the BIA for further proceedings. I. We write solely for the parties’ benefit, so our summary of the facts is brief. Alao is a Nigerian citizen. His father was a senior leader of a militant Islamic organization, * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. 2 known as “Sheriff,” 1 in Jos, Nigeria. Alao lived with his father in Jos when he was a child but later moved in with his sister, 2 who was Christian and also lived in Jos. Alao converted from Islam to Christianity during this time. He returned to his father’s house after he completed secondary school, but his father told him that he should either join Sheriff or leave. Alao chose to return to his sister’s home and began working at a church. There were violent clashes between Jos’s Christian and Muslim populations in 2003 and 2004. Alao testified that, although he did not physically harm anyone, he participated in some of the 2003 riots and helped other Christians destroy property that belonged to Muslims. Alao’s father lived in one of these properties. Alao believed that his father, Sheriff members, and the state government were looking for him because of his involvement in these riots. When Alao was temporarily out-of-town in 2004, his sister and her family were killed and their home destroyed. Alao believed that Sheriff members were responsible for their deaths and that they were targeting him as well. He subsequently sought to warn his church of a possible attack only to find that a mob was attacking and …
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