Nigerians residing within the United Kingdom have expressed concern over the current assaults on immigrants within the nation, saying they really feel threatened and unsafe.
Britain has been plunged right into a collection of protests that erupted early final week following the loss of life of three younger ladies in a knife assault in Southport, northwest England.
The police arrested a 17-year-old male because the suspected killer of the sufferer. However, hearsay quickly unfold that the suspect was an Islamist migrant.
Consequently, a number of thousand far-right natives gathered close to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street workplace in Central London to protest.
The protest quickly become riots as safety brokers arrested 100 suspects.
There have been riots in additional than 20 cities throughout Britain, together with Sunderland, Plymouth and Belfast.
Protesters attacked mosques, buildings housing asylum seekers, automobiles and homes, together with a library, which was set ablaze. Shops have been additionally looted.
Starmer warned that the rioters can be sentenced inside per week.
Despite the reassurance given, some Nigerians instructed Saturday PUNCH that the rioters focused immigrants, and a few houses belonging to Nigerians have been attacked.
A Nigerian engineer residing in London, Toyyib Adelodun stated, “London has been generally safe, but the Nigerian community is feeling unsafe in places where the riots were intense like Middlesborough and Plymouth. We have reported attacks on some Nigerian homes and some people couldn’t leave their houses for some days.”
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
Another Nigerian IT skilled, Dr Evelyn Okpanachi, blamed the riot on misinformation.
“It’s deeply saddening to witness the rise in violence in the UK, especially the unjust targeting of immigrants. Misinformation has fueled unrest across cities. While law enforcement is doing its best to intervene, more must be done to end this violence,” Okpanachi added.
Another Nigerian scholar at Cambridge University, who spoke on situation of anonymity, stated Black British weren’t excluded from the assaults.
The supply stated, “I feel threatened because it is targeted towards immigrants. Even the immigrants who are already citizens are also targeted because they are not whites. I feel threatened because it’s been violent and lives have been lost.”
Also, a senior lecturer in London, Dr Oyedele Ogundana stated, “As a Nigerian and a person of colour, it’s natural to feel concerned for one’s safety and that of loved ones. Nonetheless, we remain hopeful that peace will be restored.”
But a realtor, Maxwell Adeyemi, who lives in Bradford, stated the unrest didn’t get to the ward, including that there was peace within the space.
He stated, “The tension has created panic almost everywhere in the UK. However, my area in West Yorkshire, the city of Bradford is calm. I can say it’s the headquarters of immigrants in the UK.”
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, assured that Nigerians within the UK are secure.
Montgomery spoke on Wednesday throughout a gathering with the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
The envoy stated, “We will not, as a country, accept discrimination or attacks against any community.”