Residents of Onitsha, Anambra State,
were greeted with the sight of 67 persons later discovered to have
been deported from Lagos, Wednesday, July 24.
The deportees, majority of whom
were of Igbo extraction were dumped like helpless refugees at
the popular Upper Iweka area of the commercial city.
On enquiry, they disclosed that
they were arrested by officials of Lagos State Kick Against
Indiscipline,KAI from various parts of Lagos. They further stated that they
were detained in different prison custody for a period of six
months to two years before they were brought into Onitcha at about 3.20am.
From their looks, it was discovered
that majority of them were not beggars after all.Some of them were
discovered to be hawkers whose goods were reportedly seized by KIA
officials.But owing to the trauma, they looked pale, malnurished and sick.
When news of the deportation spread
across the state, officials of the Nigerian Red Cross Society led by its South
East zonal chairman, Dr. Peter Emeka Katcy, arrived the scene at about
6am,where they began a section of interview with the deportees apparently to
ascertain their claims.
By noon, relatives of the some of the
deportees surged Onitsha, where a total of 41 of them were taken to
their different family houses while the Red Cross team whisked the
remaining 18 to Onitsha South Local government township Stadium, where they
were given first aid treatment and food.
At the stadium, more relatives of the
remaining deportees arrived on daily basis, from outside the state,
identified their own and took them home. Some of them who were certified
medically fit and could find their ways home, were given transport fare .
We were treated like criminals in our
own country—deportees
Speaking with Crime Guard, the
deportees expressed regrets that a thing like this was happening in a country
they were citizens. They accused KIA officials of carrying out indiscriminate
arrests of non-indigenes of Lagos, adding that majority of those detained
in various local government cells in Lagos State were Igbos.
According to one of the deportees who
gave her name as Rosemary Nathaniel, a native of Ubakala in Umuahia, Abia
State, “I was neither a beggar nor a hawker for the past five years I lived in
Lagos. I was working at a T-shirt weaving centre at Mile 2, Lagos and I lived
with my sister. But in January this year, KAI officials and some
policemen arrested me and my friend while we were standing and discussing
on the road. We were dragged into their waiting vehicle and taken to a prison
at Alausa area of Lagos.
We saw other people who were also
arrested . They took us round the area, made other arrests before taking us all
to the prison.
The painful aspect of it was that
they never bothered to ask any of us where we lived or what were doing
for a living. As I speak, my sister whom I live with does not know anything
about my whereabouts. It is so sad that this is happening in one’s own country.
Another deportee who identified
himself as Osondu Mbuto, a trader from Ohaozara in Ebonyi State said he
was arrested by KAI officials while on his way to his shop on
December 18, 2012.
He lamented that since his arrest, he
was left incommunicado for eight months in a cell around Ikorodu area of Lagos before
he was brought to Onitsha.
“I am a Lagos-based petty trader. I
packed my goods somewhere and went to eat. As I was going, three
persons approached me . Thinking they were miscreants on a mission to
dispossess me of my goods, I decided to give them some money. Then, all
of a sudden, I saw an armed policeman pointing his gun at me. he
ordered me to follow the KAI officials. Out of fear, I joined them as they
marched me into a waiting vehicle and drove away”.
“My initial suspicion was that they
were taking us to Alausa police station, where they used to detain people
unlawfully only to release them later after parting with some money. But no!
they took me to another place in Ikorodu,close to Ijebu-Ode. After taking
my statement, they pushed me inside the cell where I was, for eight months.
Two days before we were deported, a
man whom they called boss came with a paper and a biro and said those of us
interested in going to our home town should put down our names. Some did while
others did not for fear that they were going to be killed. That was how we were
sandwiched inside a truck and brought here at the wee hours”
One dead, others unconscious
As at Monday, this week, only five of
them were left in the one-room apartment at the stadium. Their
identities were given as:Friday Ndukwe from Ohafia in Abia State; Grace Igbochi
who claimed to be a Lagosian, Ugulari Tutua from Warri, Delta State;
Chinyere Nocholas from Awomamma,Imo State and Rosemary Nathaniel from Ubakala
Umuahia,Abia State.
A member of the NRCS and Education
Officer attached to the Onitsha South Local Government Education Authority,Mrs.
Nneoma Judith Nwora, disclosed that one of the deportees died
Friday from a protracted illness, adding that the five remaining deportees
comprised two males and three females.
Three of them according to her,
were unconscious at the moment, adding that some Rev. Sisters from nearby
Madonna Mercy Convent had indicated interest to come and pick them for
feeding and medical treatment until they recovered and were fit to go home.
Reactions trail deportation
Reacting to the development, the
South East Zonal Red Cross boss, Katchy, described the action of the Lagos
State Government as condemnable, adding, “it is very despicable and
disheartening that a state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria will bundle
people who are in that state, who are not indigenes of Anambra State,
and dumped them under the fly-over bridge at Upper Iweka in Onitsha and
left them to their fate.
Most of the people interviewed
are not even indigenes of Anambra State. Some of them are from Ebonyi,
Imo and other states.
This is an insult to Anambra
State. We shall draw the attention of His Excellency, the Governor of Anambra
State, Mr.Peter Obi to it, and ask why such invasion in his territory and we
will find out why Lagos State should invade Anambra State territory by dumping
people here helplessly.
Also, in a communique issued at
the end of the general meeting of the Onitsha branch of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA), the association insisted that those deported be recalled by
the Lagos State Government,threatening to take legal actions against Lagos
State government if such exercise was carried out again.
The association also appealed
to the Anambra State government to come to the assistance of those
affected by providing means of transportation to them to enable them go
back to their various states of origin,even as it called on the Federal
Government to call the Lagos State government to order.
The Lagos State government has
however debunked allegation that it deported indigenes of Anambra State,
clarifying that it only carried out a rehabilitation and resettlement of
citizens from other states.
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Society
He probably poisoned before deporting them .. Evil man !!, U will die like fly. yet they criticize Jonathan. PDP might be performing optimally bt they remain d only party that is neither religiously nor tribally biased.
ReplyDeleteThere one salient fact the Igbo man must understand is that he is more hated by the Yoruba man than the Hausa man he sees to be his greatest foe. Eloquent testimony to this, is the maner with which Fashola keep dismantling markets in Lagos where bios ply their trade since he came for second term
ReplyDeleteGod hv mercy!
ReplyDelete4rm day 1 Yorubas ar very koni,let Fashola Tinubu Buhary come & pass through with their so called APC
ReplyDeleteWell am a Yoruba man,but I must say this to all the leader anywhere dat they shud alwys see and cross check whatsoever law they give to any subordinates...the stupid fool(KAI) did what they weren't asked to do.For any arrest,they should be a statement written by the detained person.it is too bad to hear dis sad new..Fashola ,this so called KAI are indiscipline,I think you should looked into this,Or someday it would be ur own childs turn to be In the cell.
ReplyDelete