By CHUKS EZE (fazec1@yahoo.com)
Joe Oladimeji is the President, National Association of Nigerians in Kenya. He has resided in that east African country for 27 years. The Ondo State-born Nigerian says he knows Kenya inside out and is even married to a Kenyan woman who already has four children for him – three boys and a girl.
According to him, “the Kenyan Constitution clearly states that if a foreigner is married to a Kenyan citizen for seven years; he or she is automatically entitled to become a Kenyan citizen. But for some months now, Nigerians, whether married to Kenyans or not, have been experiencing incessant harassment, looting, arrests, detention and unjust deportation in the hands of Kenyan security agents.” He also talks about the genesis of their travails and efforts at getting Nigerian authorities to intervene and resolve the matter.Excerpts:
How did the incessant harassment of Nigerians by Kenyan authorities start? Is it traceable to the last Kenyan presidential election?
First, I have to state, for the records, that the Kenyan Constitution clearly states that if a foreigner is married to a Kenyan citizen for seven years; he or she is automatically entitled to become a Kenyan citizen. But for some months now, Nigerians, whether married to Kenyans or not, have been experiencing incessant harassment, looting, arrest, detention and unjust deportation in the hands of Kenyan security agents. As for your question, we are told, from reliable sources, that we are being punished as a result of our support for the country’s former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, which was not true. I don’t think any of us drummed support for Raila’s bid in any way. And moreover, none of us was eligible to vote in that election. So, since we didn’t vote, in what ways could we have supported any candidate that warranted the kind of inhuman treatment we have been subjected to in the last few months? It is really unfortunate and we are still begging the Nigerian government to urgently come to our aid because things are really getting out of hand. They are clamping down on Nigerians on a daily basis, looting their property, intimidating them and even beating them like criminals before detaining them in undisclosed locations. We have even received several complaints of extortion of money from Nigerians in detention after they are either charged to court or secretly bundled out of the country back to Nigeria. In fact, so much evil and injustice are being meted out to Nigerians there. We have stated the major ones in the Save Our Soul (SOS) letter, which we recently sent to President Goodluck Jonathan. But we have neither heard anything from them nor received any formal invitation from anybody. The situation has continued to worsen such that Nigerians are now being turned back on entry into Kenya, even when they have all the necessary valid documents. I have to state here too, that most of the Nigerians currently in detention there have valid documents. Officials of the Nigerian High Commission can attest to that because they witnessed it the day they accompanied us to one of the prisons in Nairobi, after our peaceful demonstration, at the Nigerian Embassy.
Have you not been receiving adequate intervention from the Nigerian High Commission there?
Well, with all due respect to His Excellency, Ambassador Solomon Oyateru has not been doing well enough. That is why we protested against him and demanded for his immediate recall both at the rally and in the SOS letter to the Nigerian President. What we are experiencing now couldn’t have happened during the time of former ambassadors, especially Chijioke Wigwe. It is really unfortunate that Oyateru has been paying lip service to our lingering predicaments. And worst of all, he is never there to attend to you.
About how many Nigerians are still being unjustly detained there and what other forms of harassment do Nigerian citizens face there?
There are so many still being unlawfully detained, I wouldn’t be able to say precisely how many. Nigerian houses are raided and searched without any search warrant, business places are raided, searched and owners arrested for no just reason. Our people are also being incessantly harassed on the streets and money demanded from them; their phones and other property taken from them. Some are even beaten up and any resistance usually attracts threats of being labelled drug suspect since that is all that is needed to arrest and deport any foreigner since Kenyatta ordered security agents, last month to arrest and deport all suspected drug peddlers. Nigerian visas are no longer being renewed just as they refuse to extend student permits for Nigerians. Also, many business permits of Nigerian citizens are being cancelled just as more than 50 Nigerians, all with valid documents, have been denied entry into Kenya in the last two weeks. They were usually told that Nigerians were no longer wanted in Kenya. All these are verifiable facts. However, since we have not received any response to our letter to Mr President and the National Assembly, we are putting our resources together to come home to inform them physically. But in the interim, we have agreed to boycott the Kenyan Airways, henceforth, in all our travels, pending the resolution of the matter.
How would you describe Nigerian citizens resident in Kenya in terms of lifestyle and general behaviour?
Nigerian citizens residing in Kenya are not bad people as we are sometimes painted. We are sociable and law-abiding citizens. Anywhere hard working, enterprising and easy going people are discussed in that country, Nigerians come first. Though there are few others that can be described as not really well-behaved, but this is not peculiar to Nigerians alone, because there are bad eggs all over the world. Therefore, it would be unfair to judge the entire Nigerians resident in Kenya by the actions of a few bad eggs. What about many others that are contributing immensely to their economy through their businesses, employment generation and other means? If you go there, you would find great Nigerians doing well in virtually all sectors in that country.
Is it true that many Nigerins there do not have genuine and reasonable means of livelihood making them indulge in drug peddling and 419?
In as much as we cannot rule out bad eggs entirely, like I stated earlier, majority of our people have genuine livelihood in Kenya. We have many Nigerians working with the United Nations (UN), Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), banks such as UBA, Ecobank, NIC, and some other Nigerian banks. There are many other Nigerians who are into several other legitimate private businesses, entrepreneurship et cetera. So, why are they not talking about them?
What business are you into there, and what can you say about the controversial deportation of Anthony Chinedu via a chartered flight, about two months ago?
I run an IT firm called Digispace Systems. I also do car sales and hire. I would describe the deportation of Anthony Chinedu as really controversial and unlawful. A man who has lived in a country for 18 years is no longer, and should no longer be treated as a foreigner. I consider his case not only unfortunate but also an insult to our nation because due process was not followed at all in the whole saga. I think they just wanted to get rid of him. The security agents initially tried to implicate him in drug peddling but failed. So, when they suspected that the court would likely vindicate him, they quickly pounced on him and hired a flight to deport him. Surely, that was wrong, and I urge the Nigerian authorities to look into that matter properly and ensure that justice is seen to be done.
What is the condition of his businesses there, and the property of other Nigerians affected by other recent controversial deportations?
The present condition of his businesses and those of other victims is not known as I do not have access to any. However, Chinedu’s hotel is still running, but I cannot tell who is managing it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
KINDLY LEAVE YOUR COMMENT BELOW