‘We escaped kidnapping’ – mother of family being deported next week pleads with Justice Department
Titilayo Oluwakemi Oyekanmi was threatened at gunpoint in South Africa and told her to leave the community
Titilayo Oluwakemi Oyekanmi and her three sons, Samuel, Joseph and Genesis, arrived in Ireland in 2023 and last year received a deportation order after their asylum application was rejected“Samuel, my first son, is preparing for his Leaving Cert,” she told the Irish Independent. “Taking him out in this stage of his life is going to affect his life, and his future, which makes me cry.“He has been studying and working hard towards it, and I would be so glad if they can allow him to stay, focus, do his Leaving Cert and pass very well.”Today's News in 90 - Saturday, February 7 She said she is “pleading” for her and her sons to be allowed to remain in Ireland, because their lives are not safe back in South Africa.Appeals on their case have been rejected thus far by the Department of Justice.On Friday, the family were forced to move from the IPAS centre they had been located at in Sandyford to a one-bedroom in Castleknock, in advance of their deportation on Thursday, 12 February.Samuel OyekanmiWhile South Africa is deemed a safe country of origin by the Department of Justice, Ms Oyekanmi, who is originally from Nigeria, said her family face xenophobic threats there.Ms Oyekanmi, who has completed her QQI Level 5 in healthcare, had planned to work as a care assistant in Ireland.“I want my children to be happy, because we had to run away from threats to our lives in South Africa.“We escaped kidnapping. That same boy that escaped that kidnapping, now they want to send him back to that same country.“The xenophobic attacks are still going on in South Africa, I was born in Nigeria, gave birth to all my children in South Africa.“South Africa are not supporting me, my life, my children’s lives, and my children have already settled in Ireland. They are doing very well sports-wise and education-wise.”Ms Oyekanmi said she mainly wants to stay in Ireland for the health and safety of her three sons, who have settled well into their community in south Dublin, performing well in the classroom and in the sporting arena.She pleaded to the Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan to allow her family to remain in Ireland.Joseph Oyekanmi“I’m not here for any benefit from the country. I’m a hard-working lady, I can work for myself and my children. I want to focus on their future.“Their future means so much to me and I don’t want to jeopardise that.”Athletics champion David Gillick is among those who have appealed for the family to remain in Ireland.Julie Clements, who runs the Gathering Grounds Café in Kiltiernan, where Oyekanmi volunteers, said: “Titilayo has documentation as a shop owner in South Africa that, as she put it, thugs came in at gunpoint and told her to leave the community or they would kill her."She said they then tracked her down again, and it's because Nigerians in South Africa are discriminated against by both blacks and whites.”In South Africa, which is designated a “safe country of origin” by the Department of Justice, it is common knowledge that Nigerians experience xenophobic attacks.“I know there's a black and white letter of the law that South Africa is not a war-torn country. “However, I just wish the bigger picture would be taken into consideration, that as Nigerian dissent, they won't be accepted back into the society there,” Ms Clements said.De La Salle Palmerstown FC, Samuel’s club, Dundrum South Dublin (DSD) Athletics Club, Joseph’s club and Kiltiernan Parish Church have all gotten involved to vouch for the family.Both Joseph and Samuel are talented athletes. Joseph is a member of DSD Athletics Club and had planned to compete tomorrow in the Indoor Championships in Dublin.In a letter sent by former professional track and field athlete David Gillick to the Department of Justice, he described Joseph as an “exceptional young person”.He said: “From the moment I saw him run, it was clear he possessed a natural gift for speed – his raw talent was a joy to watch.”Appealing to the Department, Joseph’s family “have integrated seamlessly and serve as shining examples of how successful and positive integration can be”.A petition organised by De La Salle Palmerstown FC, also calling for action from the Department, currently has over 900 signatures.His athletics coach, Gráinne McAdam said: “Joseph’s mom has made a fantastic effort at keeping the social situation and everything very private for them.”“Joseph has just mingled into the athletics club with us and into school so well.“He is well known in sporting circles and within school rugby and he’s even been awarded a scholarship to go to Biarritz next summer with a French rugby programme on an Olympic rugby competitive grounds."I think [their deportation] is pretty cutthroat,” she added.Joseph is currently attending first year of Gonzaga College on a scholarship.Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan is an alumnus of the school.Finbarr O’Brien, manager of Samuel’s team at De La Salle Palmerstown FC, has been helping the family fight the prospect of deportation for a year and a half.He said: “Sam is in the middle of his mock exams at the moment, they are obviously good sports people, but also good students and just nice people.”Samuel is a student at Ballinteer Community School, who has also written to the Department to appeal his case.Reverend Rob Clements of Kiltiernan Parish Church also told the Irish Independent that the deportation order has hit the local community “very hard”.“I know many people in the community here in Kiltiernan and have been actively pushing and signing the petition for the family today.“Titilayo has a phenomenal story and certainly has been through an awful lot, she fights so hard for her kids who she loves, but just the kind of person who understands community.”A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said: "The Department takes all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, while ensuring the integrity of those processes is maintained at all times."The Department also said that if the option to voluntarily leave the country is refused by an asylum applicant, a deportation order is then made.“If a person’s application for international protection is refused and they are ordered to leave the State they must do so."Their case to remain in the State has been considered in detail and the appeals processes have been concluded.”
