Dabiri-Erewa condemns destruction of vehicles at Nigerian Embassy in
London over passport delay
Chairman/CEO,
Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has
described the attitude of a 32-year old Nigerian, Jeffrey Apkovweta Ewohime, who
allegedly destroyed several properties of the Nigeria High Commission in London
as despicable and condemnable.
Dabiri-Erewa in a
statement on Monday by Her Media Aide,
Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said that such an attitude was unpatriotic, and an
unconscionable act of indiscipline
Dabiri-Erewa said
she received a report that Emohime went to the Nigeria Embassy in London on
Monday.
She said, “He had
approached the Embassy to collect his passport, which expired since Nov 2017 at
about 2 p.m and was told collection of passports closes at 1 pm.
“He then insisted
on collecting his passport and was told to bring his collection slip which he
could not produce.
“According to
reports from the Embassy, it would, of course, be wrong to hand over his
passport to him, without his collection slip.
“He thereafter left
agitated and returned from a nearby hotel to destroy about seven cars belonging
to the mission, and 2 to visitors who parked nearby.
“His attempt to
destroy the High Commissioner’s car failed as it is a bulletproof
“I am told that he
has been arrested by the police.”
Dabiri-Erewa said
that the suspect destroyed seven brand new cars, except the Ambassador’s car
which is bulletproof.
“This is a
despicable act, which must be condemned by all. Of course, the law must take
its course.”
Dabiri-Erewa
implored Nigerians abroad to exercise restraint and be good ambassadors of
Nigeria at all times in all circumstances.
Somali parents in London
are sending their children to Africa to escape knife crime in the city - New
report
Hundreds of British
teenagers are reportedly being sent by their African parents to East Africa to
avoid knife crime in the UK, representatives of the Somali community say. Some
names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.
"In those few
years I was doing my A-levels it was tough. Just seeing people being dropped
every other day, being stabbed," Yusuf tells BBC
Yusuf was born and
raised in London but moved to Nairobi after a close friend in his neighbourhood
was stabbed to death.
It is a decision an
increasing number of parents are taking, for their children's safety.
Of the 100 people stabbed to death in the UK so far this year, 8% were of
Somali heritage, according to the Rise Projects which works with young British
Somalis in north London.
Jamal Hassan
mentors young men in London, many from Somali families. He explains parents
"want to protect that child by all means necessary".
"If it means
that child doesn't finish school, college, university or he will not have a
good job by the time you come for them the future is not really important.
"What's important is that child's life."
One mother who had
sent her child to Africa told him she could now sleep at night, because she
knew any police sirens she heard were not for her son.
Jamal went to Kenya
as a teenager, when he says problems for him in London "were at their
peak".
He says there are
parallels with the present day.
"One of the
things I'll never forget, is the fact that when you walk in the streets in
Kenya you don't have to look over your shoulder. Here I could travel in and out
of the city, go and visit whoever I wanted, and it was good. I felt a sense of
freedom. But for these kids [in London that can be] life and death."
Others, such as
Abdul, who is in his early 20s, left London because they had started to get
into trouble with the police.
"When I came
here it was like a clean sheet," Abdul said. "No-one knew me, no-one
knows my history. There [in London], you have people that look like you going
after you. My mum feels I'm much safer here than anywhere else in the
world."
Parents say they do
not view the move as a long-term solution - some children stay in Africa while
others return.
The Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises against all travel to Somalia, including
Somaliland, and highlights a heightened threat of terrorism and kidnappings,
across Kenya.
But Amina sent her
15-year-old son to Somaliland, when she was worried about the new friends with
whom he was mixing.
In his year there,
she says he became a studious child again. He had even wanted to stay in East
Africa. But within 17 days of being brought back to the UK in November 2018, he
was stabbed four times.
"He's been
completely traumatised by the experience," she says.
"They damaged his bladder, his kidneys, his liver. He's got permanent
damage. He was safer there [in Somaliland] than he was here… 100% more safe
than in London."
The new mayor for
Islington, Rakhia Ismail - a mother of four who came to London from Somalia as
a refugee - believes that some areas of the city are unsafe for young people.
"Does the
parent wait for her child to be killed? Or does the parent take a decision -
quite a drastic decision - to take him all the way back to wherever that child
is from originally?"
She says she knows
families who are waiting for their children to finish primary school so they
can leave the UK. She estimates that out of every five Somalian families, two
are taking their children back home.
Dr Fatumo Abdi - a
mother of Somali origin - said parents were struggling to know how to react to
knife crime.
"This is not
something they've encountered before. But we know living here in Britain, the
context is Britain. This is a British problem and it's a problem that we've
fallen into. It's not the answer but these are desperate parents."
She believes
poverty, inequality and exposure to violence are big factors as to why young people
fall into criminality.
"Our
communities are living in very poor disadvantaged areas with poor educational
attainment. All these things affect how our children move through the
world."
Rhoda Ibrahim, who
runs the Somali Advice and Forum of Information, which supports Somali mothers,
says that as many of them have poor English, they are forced to take jobs such
as cleaning, which lead them to being away from their families for long periods
of time.
"When you get
sent back to your country by your parents, it's the worst feeling," says
Mohamed, who lived in Kenya for six and then nine months.
He was sent there
after being excluded and sent to a pupil referral unit when no other school in
his area would accept him.
"It feels like
you're going to prison, and your mum's the judge. You can't come back until the
judge has let you free. You have to show that you're good, you've
changed."
But he feels like
it has made him a "better person".
"I could have
been out on the streets right now selling drugs, but... the kids in Kenya put
school first."
Masked gunman fires shot at
London mosque during Ramadan prayers
A masked gunman gained entrance into an east
London mosque during Ramadan prayers before firing a gun outside.
Muslims were at the Seven Kings Mosque in
Ilford for evening prayer late on Thursday when they heard the sound of a
gunshot. A masked man was said to have entered the mosque on High Road, but was
made to leave before firing the gun.
Scotland Yard said early investigations
suggested that a "blank firing handgun" had been discharged. No
injuries or damage to the building were reported and detectives were not
treating the incident as terrorism-related, the force said.
Scotland Yard said the investigation was
being led by detectives from the East Area Command Unit, although the Trident
gang squad had been notified.
Ibraheem Hussain, 19, who was at the mosque
at the time of the shooting, described hearing the gunshot around half an hour
after prayers began.
He said: "There’s three sections of the
mosque and at taraweeh (evening prayers) during this time of Ramadan the mosque
is packed out. We were upstairs in the classrooms and about 30 minutes into the
night prayer a large noise went off.
"I just continued my prayer, it sounded
like a firework or maybe something heavy had been dropped, so no-one really
thought anything of it. After we finished we were leaving the shoe area and
someone said it was a gunshot, someone had come into the mosque and he had a
firearm on him. The managers had seen him, he was masked and acting suspicious
and the firearm was let off."
Following the incident the mosque’s imam,
Mufti Suhail, urged people not to speculate over the gunman’s motives.
He said: "There was a firearm incident
outside Seven Kings Mosque tonight during Ramadan night prayers. The suspect
ran from the scene when stopped by brothers standing guard at the mosque. A
shot was fired which fortunately did not hit anyone."
Ilford North MP Wes Streeting said he would
be contacting the police about the incident.
"I am aware of the reports of a man with
a firearm at Seven Kings Mosque during prayers tonight and am relieved that no
one appears to have been hurt or injured. Thank you to @MPSRedbridge for a
swift response," he tweeted.
