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British Home Secretary Theresa May
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A Nigerian asylum seeker in Britain is at the centre of a political storm in that country after officials of Britain’s Home Office attempted to deport him to Nigeria but were not granted access into Nigeria’s airspace.
The Nigerian man, Ifa Muaza, is seriously ill following a hunger strike which he was on for 100 days to protest the moves to have him deported. Muaza says his life is under threat in Nigeria following his refusal to join the dreaded Boko Haram sect. Already he says two members of his family have been killed.
The British Home Office was however not buying his argument and despite the fact that doctors stated that Muaza is too sick to travel, they hired a private plane and attempted to deport him.
Muaza and British immigration officials were the only passengers on board the jet. However the jet was forced to return to the UK, after a 20-hour flight that saw the plane prevented from entering Nigerian airspace. It diverted to Malta, where an angry dispute broke out with the authorities over the plane’s right to use its airstrip.
Subsequently, the aircraft made a return to Britain and Muaza who last week was said to be close to death, was taken off by stretcher and returned to Harmondsworth detention centre near Heathrow.
Apart from the fact that several clerics, activists, politicians and citizens had asked the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to desist from deporting him, the British public is also upset that the flight is estimated to have cost the Home Office £95,000- £110,000.
Lord Roberts, a Liberal Democrat politician said he was delighted that the 47-year old Muaza was back in the UK but horrified that he had been forced to endure the attempted removal.
“I saw him on Tuesday when a doctor had judged him too sick to fly,” he said. “Goodness knows what state he must be in now the poor man. He needs hospital treatment. We should know the cost of this private jet. We’ve already heard this case has cost some £180,000.
“[Home secretary] Theresa May must consider her role immediately. She has caused immense harm to one individual and spent an extraordinary amount of taxpayers’ money. I hope there will be no question of sending this poor man away again.”
Roberts had earlier written a letter to the home secretary appealing for clemency for Muaza. The letter was co-signed by a group of cross-party MPs and peers.
According to reports, staff at the detention centre “were horrified” at Muaza’s medical condition. Doctors at the centre have six times ruled that he is too ill to be held there, while staff were put on notice of “an imminent death”, believed to be that of Muaza, last week.
After it was revealed on Wednesday that a ticket had been booked on a flight to Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Lib Dem minister Sarah Teather called on Virgin Atlantic to refuse to accept Muaza on the plane due to the concerns about his health.
On Saturday night Teather was “truly, truly, appalled” at the treatment of Muaza. “To put a well man through this kind of stress and journey would be bad enough, but to do it to a man in such a desperate condition? Well done, Theresa May, you proved your toughness at the expense of your humanity. This should give everyone pause for thought. I cannot see why this was in anyone’s interest.
“That the government is rushing to deport a man prepared to starve himself to death rather than be returned says everything about the culture of disbelief towards individuals fleeing persecution that is a defining characteristic of the UK’s asylum process,” she told Politics.co.uk.
“I find it hard to believe that a man who has refused to eat for over 90 days is playing the system and being wilfully manipulative. These are the actions of a desperate man who clearly fears for his safety should he be returned to Nigeria.”
John Packer, the bishop of Ripon and Leeds, had also spoken against the deportation, saying Muaza was in clear danger in his native country after defying the terror group Boko Haram by refusing to join their ranks.
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