Lifeline for mother facing deportation

A NIGERIAN woman who faces deportation along with her son and his twin sister was thrown a lifeline yesterday when the Minister for Justice said he would personally review her file.

Locals were shocked yesterday morning when Olivia Agbonlahor was arrested at an asylum-seeker centre in Clonakilty. She was taken to Bandon garda station, but released a couple of hours later.

Olivia’s son Great, who is four-and-a-half, is awaiting assessment for suspected autism. She said earlier this week that if he was deported he would get absolutely no care in Nigeria for his condition, and would therefore suffer greatly as a result.

“It would be a sentence to death if Great went back to Nigeria. I’d prefer to die here than go back. If I go back I face a life of destitution,” Ms Agbonlahor said.

Dozens of locals supporting the Agbonlahor family’s stay in this country have formed the Great Justice Action Group.

A spokesman for the group, Gary O’Sullivan, said they were lobbying politicians and taking up a major petition.

On foot of a call from the group, Fianna Fáil TD Denis O’Donovan spoke with Minister for Justice Michael McDowell shortly before Ms Agbonlahor was released from garda custody.

“From the information I have been given it seems that there is a compassionate case to be made. The minister said he was aware of what was happening and he told me he’d personally review the situation before any decision was made,” Mr O’Donovan said.

“It would seem most cruel to deport the mother without her children. They should either go together or stay together. But it is reassuring that it (the deportation) has been put on hold. It gives a chink of light,” the TD said.

In a statement Mr McDowell said he had directed that Ms Agbonhalor be released and had arranged a stay to be put on her deportation order pending further consideration of the case.

Cllr Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin said that a solicitor had also been appointed and that a local fund would be put together to pay for the services.

“I was in the centre when Mrs Agbonlahor was arrested. There were a lot of people upset, especially the other African women staying there. On humanitarian grounds, if nothing else, they should be allowed to stay. At least the young fella should be assessed before any decision is made on deporting the family. It would shocking if they were separated,” he said.

Mr O’Sullivan said people in the town were shocked at what happened yesterday morning.

“To be fair to the gardaí they need to do their jobs, but nobody expected it because her deportation was to be up to and including November 1,” he said.

His wife Olive said locals intended to fight deportation moves “tooth and nail”.

It has been confirmed that Great Agbonlahor will be assessed for autism by experts at Marian House in Cork City on Wednesday next, October 26.

Ms Agbonlahor has claimed that she lives in fear of returning to Nigeria because her journalist husband has written about the country’s drug barons. She said both of them had received threats. Her husband is working in Italy.