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- September - 2003 |
Usifoh
Family Must Stay
Beauty and Umar Usifoh are Nigerian asylum seekers
they presently live in Woolwich South London, with their three children
aged 5,4 and 2.
While he was a student in the late 1980's
Umar became involved in student demonstrations against the Babagida military
regime. During one of those demonstrations he was caught by the police and
hit on the head leaving him with injuries that have continued to cause him
problems. Umar became involved in the Campaign for Democracy (CD) in Auchi
in 1994. His activities with the CD brought him to the attention of the
government. In 1995 the police came to his home looking for him but he was
not there so he managed to evade them. On the same day a friend of his and
fellow activist with the CD called Emmanuel Obor was arrested. In order
to avoid arrest Umar went to stay at his father's farm in Agor. He thought
he would be safe there, however, in 1996 he discovered that the police had
put up a notice in the village market place listing the names of people
they wanted to a arrest because of their anti-government activities. His
name was on the list. The police came to the family home looking for him
but again he was able to evade arrest because he was not there. However,
he knew he could not avoid the police indefinitely and in July 1996 he left
Nigeria for the UK leaving his wife Beauty behind.
In June 1997 the police again came looking for Umar. They beat his father
when he told them he did not know where his son was. Umar's father died
on that day as a result of his injuries. Umar's family blamed him for the
death of his father and his half-brothers chased Beauty away from the farm
with machetes. Shortly after this Beauty left Nigeria to join Umar in the
UK. Since then they have had three children.
Umar and Beauty fear that their lives would be
at risk if they were to return to Nigeria because of Umar's activism. Human
Rights Watch have been concerned about human rights abuses in Nigeria since
the early 1990's. In 2002 they report a marked increase in political violence
with no apparent commitment on the part of the government to bring security
forces responsible for extra-judicial executions and other abuses to account.
HRW report a number of political assasinations in 2002 and point to "widespread
use of political thugs, militia and other armed groups, leading to scores
of politically-motivated killings". http://www.hrw.org/wr2k3/africa8.html
Because of the trauma suffered due to her experiences
in Nigeria, Beauty has been receiving psychiatric treatment. She suffers
from nightmares related to her father-in-law's murder and the subsequent
treatment she got at the hands of Umar's family and believes they have come
to the UK to kill her. Her psychiatrist Dr Helen Read M.B. Ch.B MRCPsych
concluded that she "is suffering from a moderately severe depressive
disorder with psychotic symptoms". Dr Read also concluded that Beauty
suffers from many features of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and stated
in a report submitted to the Home Office,
"Mrs Usifoh requires specialist
and intensive psychiatric input, and will continue to do for the foreseeable
future. Mrs Usifoh would not be able to access these treatments in Nigeria.
Were it not for the excellent support she receives from her husband, Mrs
Usifoh would undoubtedly have been admitted to hospital. If Mr Usifoh were
to be detained or removed, Mrs Usifoh would require to be admitted immediately
to hospital, and the children accommodated by social services...Mrs Usifoh
is currently not fit for removal. Any plans for removal, or for her husband's
detention, would be likely to cause a serious deterioration in Mrs Usifoh's
illness, and may even place her life at risk."
Beauty and Umar's oldest child Beatrice has speech
and language problems. She is currently receiving treatment at Greenwich
Speech and Language Therapy Department. Her therapist, Natalie Simons wrote
in a report submitted to the Home Office,
"Beatrice has a speech and language delay.
It is important that she continues with her speech and language therapy
here in order to progress and cope when she reaches school age. There are
concerns that if she were to return to Nigeria that she would not
have access to the therapy she requires."
Umar was a teacher in Nigeria and since living
in the UK has acquired a BA(Hons) in Educational Studies and Marketing at
the University of North London and a PGCE at the Metropolitan University.
He is now poised to begin teaching. Dr C.O. Richards, Senior Lecturer in
the School of Education at the University of North London said in support
of his application to stay in the UK,
"He has been an excellent student.
He writes fluently and is a confident, intellectually committed, participant
in our second year programme. He is a popular and well respected figure
for both students and staff and, in this respect, I am representing the
wish to support Mr Usifoh expressed by all those who have worked with him
here in the School of Education....He has already committed a great deal
to his education and can expect to become a successful graduate teacher".
With the undeniable need for teachers in
this country it simply makes no sense to deport Umar when he could contribute
so much to our education system.
What you can do to help
Fax/write to the Home Secretary David Blunkett,
using the model letter 'Attached', which you can
copy/amend/write your own.
Fax no: 020 7273 3965 from outside the UK + 44 20 7273 3965
Or write to:
David Blunkett
Home Secretary
Home Office
50 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AT
Please take
time to send a copy of anything sent to:
Usifoh Family Must Stay Campaign
c/o NCADC
Cambridge House
131 Camberwell Road
London SE5 0HF
Enquiries/further information:
Allison Bennett
Phone: 020 7701 5197
ncadc-london@ncadc.org.uk
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Source: Usifoh Family Must Stay Campaign |
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