Town fights autistic boy’s deportation

A COMMUNITY has rallied round a Nigerian woman who is on hunger strike in an attempt to stop her four-year-old autistic son from being deported.

Olivia Agbonlahor and her twins, Melissa and Great, were to be deported earlier this week from an asylum-seeker centre.

Her son Great is suspected of being autistic and is currently waiting assessment by medical experts. Mrs Agbonlahor, along with her supporters, said Nigeria has no care facilities for children with the condition and her son will suffer considerably if he is deported.

She claimed she fled Nigeria because of threats from drug gangs after her journalist husband wrote stories about their activities. He currently lives in Italy.

“Where is the justice for my autistic son now that he is facing deportation? Nigeria does not care for autistic children. This is too much for me to bear as I watch my children helpless and frustrated,” Ms Agbonlahor said.

Clergy, community leaders, and a group which deals with handicapped children in the region are all lobbying on her behalf.

Barth Harrington, principal at Clonakilty Boys’ National School - where Great is a pupil - backed her calls. “The boy will not get the care he needs in Nigeria. He has a full-time special needs teacher all day. If he is assessed (as having autism) he will get resource teaching on a one-to-one basis,” Mr Harrington said.

“People are very fond of him. He’s an absolutely loveable child. I don’t think he should go and you couldn’t separate the twins (if his sister was to be deported),” he added.

Mrs Agbonlahor and her children have lived at the Clonakilty Lodge asylum seeker reception centre since March 2003.

Centre manager Roy Maguire said that while he was not critical of the process involved in either granting or denying refugee status, he hoped officials would rethink and focus on the humanitarian issue.

“I am not in any way qualified to make judgment on who is or who is not deserving of refugee status. However, it does seem a shame that the conditions for meeting the criteria for granting of refugee status do not take into account suitability of people to contribute to our community,” Mr Maguire said.

He said Mrs Agbonlahor was undertaking a business studies course and that with help her son could lead a productive life and also contribute to the community.

“I hope it might be possible for the Minister for Justice to revisit this case and review the decision in the light of these circumstances. We should forget about refugee status and look on it through humanitarian eyes,” Mr Maguire said.