OCSO Sergeant Becomes U.S. Citizen

Sergeant Kayode Atoki is a senior detention officer at the Oklahoma County Jail.

“What I do is make sure the inmates are OK in their cells, they get their recreation, they get fed, get their medical,” he explained.

Living in Oklahoma, he's more than 6,000 miles from his home country. Sgt. Atoki was born and raised in Nigeria.

“There’s a way people see the United States. And people from the United States don’t know that, but people see the United States way high here,” he gestured.

Across the Atlantic, he was working as an architect. And at a mutual friend's wedding in Nigeria, he met Bola, who was visiting from Oklahoma City.

“She is the best I could ever have. She is awesome,” he told News 9.

Eventually, they became engaged and Sgt. Atoki came to the US.

“I moved here for love,” he said.

In 2012, they were married.

Then, Sgt. Atoki made a career change and got a job with the Oklahoma Count Sheriff's Office, where his wife also works.

“I always strive every day to the job better, to be a better person,” he said.

After years of working to become a US citizen, this week that process was complete and Sgt. Atoki took the oath.

“I’m really proud of it. It takes a lot to be a citizen of the United States,” he said. “It’s the greatest country in the world.”