[perlgeek]

It's fun to speculate why somebody would behave this way.

A few things I could imagine:

* he fears being treated worse if his identity is found out (like an extradition to the US where he could face capital punishment, or detainment by another power that would treat him worse)

* he has a fundamental distrust of authorities that makes him somehow behave that way

* he has serious mental health issues (the article doesn't mention any psychological assessment)

Given his history of fraud, I'd tend toward the first idea, but who knows?

Any other ideas?

[tyingq]

He's wanted in Cameroon for something else, and knows prison there is worse? (Your first guess)

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kondengui_Central_Prison

[jacknews]

He's a career fraudster and narcissist?

They should just give him a name, convict him of the fraud, and then try to deport him to serve his sentence somewhere (much) less comfortable than Canada.

Sorry, I have no patience with these 419 type scammers.

[saagarjha]

> he's a career fraudster and narcissist

How do you know this?

[wil421]

> He was convicted for fraudulent documents and given an eight-month sentence in London. Afterwards, he stayed in Britain and was convicted again, under a different name, in 2009 on a fraud charge and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

> He said his passport was at his apartment in Montreal. Police charged him with two counts of fraud and personation.

Certainly a fraudster.

[pbhjpbhj]

A corollary to your first point is the possibility he fears retribution from a criminal party -- maybe the passport provider threatened his family if he ever gave up his real name.

Other reasons not to give identity could be related to fear of being disgraced, or found by someone seeking retribution, or found by an abuser.

Being caught for past crimes does seem most likely.

[Razengan]

• He wants to be in prison.

• Is a time traveller, an avatar of Nyarlathotep, or something even more bizarre.

[chongli]

like an extradition to the US where he could face capital punishment

Canada does not extradite people without assurances that capital punishment is off the table.

[sundayedition]

Does that still apply even if they're not a Canadian citizen, and not in Canada legally?

I'd think there would be a point where they might say "not my problem, not getting involved"

[perlgeek]

You have to trust both Canada AND the US to some level to accept that argument, which he might now.

[qzx_pierri]

Canadians are so nice

[b3lvedere]

My best guess is that he is hoping to outlive the complex system that will eventually 'forget' this case and he will eventually be a free man to stay in Canada due to new people and systems in power.

[wil421]

He fears going back to Cameroon or whatever other African nation. Given the details in the article it sounds like the US doesn’t have anything on him.

[nroets]

Up this. Many people from Africa want to go to Canada: https://m.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/sa-cant-force-refugees...

[bru]

* He forgot it

[clarry]

Maybe he never had a real identity?

[davidhyde]

Metal health issues and a distrust of people who hold power over him.