Nigerians face deportation
On Monday evening there were two quite innocent people held in
Dublin's Mountjoy Jail. They had been arrested at their
workplaces last week by immigration officers. They were
handcuffed and taken to jail to await deportation.
Blessing Ogueri is a preacher who witnessed a massacre of fellow
Christians in Nigeria. He fled for his life when he was tipped
off about a threat to kill him from Hausa Moslems, who accused
him of burning a mosque. Blessing emphatically denies this. The
Nigerian Government is strongly dominated by Hausa and has
introduced the Sharia (Moslem) law. Ogueri fears for his life if
he is returned to Nigeria to the hands of Hausa government
officials.
Following the deal which Minister O'Donoghue reached with the
Nigerian government last year, he will be handed to Hausa
government officials on deportation. Blessing says this is to his
death or to imprisonment in atrocious conditions.
thony Benson was living in Dundalk and works at Quantum. His
partner, who has refugee status, is six months pregnant with his
child. Despite this clear entitlement to be given asylum here,
Anthony is in Mountjoy, awaiting deportation. If he isn't granted
a judicial review of his case this week, he too will be deported.
Both Anthony and Blessing want to fire their solicitor, who they
believe has been very remiss in pursuit of their cases, but he
has refused to release their case papers until the payment of
over £1,500 is made. Neither Anthony nor Blessing have any way of
raising these sums.
Rosanna Flynn, a member of Residents Against Racism, points out
that ``the government and media here in Ireland have lulled people
into the entirely false opinion that Nigeria is a democratic and
free country, where government has respect for human rights. It
is a convenient misrepresentation, which undoubtedly will lead to
the death of many people who seek asylum here, and are refused.''
Stop Deportations
Ursula Fraser from Amnesty International addressed a packed
meeting last Thursday, 8 February in Dublin called to initiate a
campaign to stop deportations. Speakers at the meeting included
Seamus Dooley from the NUJ, community worker John Bissett, Pat
Guerin from the Anti Racism Campaign, and Ebi Ojoh, a Nigerian
from Waterford who was the centre of a campaign last year by
local people, who called on Minister O'Donoghue to grant her the
right to refugee status.
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