Nigerian man doesn’t feel safe driving taxi

A NIGERIAN man said he doesn’t feel safe working as a taxi driver in Ennis, Co Clare.

The taxi driver, Batholomew Omoifo, said: “For a coloured man, working as a taxi driver is very dangerous. I am afraid to go working because of previous experiences. One is very scared.”

Mr Omoifo, aged 36, was speaking after a man was jailed for nine months at Ennis District Court yesterday for the unprovoked assault on Mr Omoifo on June 5, 2010.

Mr Omoifo told the court that Azriel Higgins, aged 26, of 14 Creggaun, Tobarteascáin, Ennis, Co Clare, called him a “bastard n*****” before head-butting him, knocking out his two front teeth.

Higgins, who pleaded guilty to the assault, attacked Mr Omoifo after refusing to pay the €15 fare on John Paul Avenue in Ennis.

Mr Omoifo, a married father of four, required four stitches with dental work costing €2,400. In addition, damage done by Higgins, who has 14 previous convictions, to Mr Omoifo’s taxi cost €761.

Speaking outside the court yesterday after the case, Mr Omoifo said that he was the victim of a subsequent assault by a different passenger in the east Clare village of Tulla four months ago.

He said the assault was under investigation by gardaí, but added that he was victim of verbal racist abuse on a daily basis while working as a taxi driver.

“Passengers flag you down, open the door and when they see you are coloured, they say ‘Fuck off’. I get this every day. Sometimes in the taxi rank, I might be at the top of the queue, but people will pass you out to go to the first white person. I just try to ignore them.”

The qualified accountant said: “It is very tough as a black taxi driver. If I had a choice I wouldn’t be working as a taxi driver but I have to support my home.

“It is very, very risky for us coming out working carrying people in our taxis.”

Mr Omoifo said there were 15 black taxi drivers working in Ennis.

“I don’t feel safe and we phone each other saying ‘this is an area I am going to in case anything happens’.”

He described the assault as “very, very traumatic”.

“I suffered needlessly. I have two false teeth now and I was out of work for three weeks.

“I am relieved that I have been given the privilege in court to state what really happened. I have been given respect. At least it shows me that there is justice for us and gives me the assurance that the protection is there and we can get justice.”

Mr Omoifo said he had lived in Ireland for eight years and had been working as a taxi driver for the past three.

“They see you as a problem of this country, they are venting their anger over the economy at us. We are suffering the same thing as well. We try to make a living, we go through the same economic hardship.

“We deserve to be treated with respect. We are part of society, part of the economy, we are contributing our best to the society. Instead, we are treated as if we are of no value which is very, very bad.

“We are human beings as well. Being a different colour doesn’t make us of less value than others.”