Nigerian father fails in appeal against deportation of family

THE Nigerian father of an Irish-born daughter made an unsuccessful public appeal for his two-year-old daughter and his wife to remain in Ireland before the family were deported on a charter flight late on Wednesday.

Said Balogun, whose wife is five months pregnant with their second child, burst into the tears when interviewed by RTÉ just minutes before the flight took off for Nigeria. Three Irish children and 25 deportees, including 19 men, four women and another child, accompanied by members of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, were on the flight to Lagos.

Mr Balogun, who had been living in Ireland for the past two and a half years, said he had no idea what would happen to him on his return home. He said his first-born child was killed there. He questioned why his daughter was being sent because “she is not a Nigerian citizen” and has a right to be in Ireland.