A man who the High Court ordered should not be deported claimed yesterday that on the day the order was made he was taken from prison to Dublin Airport and dragged towards the door of an aircraft.
The man, from Nigeria, said officers tried to force him handcuffed on to the Brussels-bound plane, while one of them covered his mouth to muffle his shouts of protest.
Mr Ekundayo Omoniyi described what allegedly happened to him in an affidavit read to the High Court in Dublin yesterday. He said he believed the effort to remove him from the State failed because of the earlier High Court order prohibiting his deportation.
However, as a result of the incident at the airport, during which Mr Omoniyi said he fell to the ground and was dragged along a passageway, he was charged and brought before the Dublin District Court on Thursday. He was remanded in custody for a week.
Mr Omoniyi said yesterday he fled Nigeria in October 1997 after escaping following his arrest for erecting a pro-democracy poster in Lagos. Although held in custody for three months, he was never charged and eventually escaped.
He fled by ship to Belgium and arrived in Ireland on a false Dutch passport in November 1997. On arrival, he had admitted his passport was false and asked for political asylum, but was twice refused.
Last Monday, Mr Omoniyi said, he was called to the Department of Justice and handed a deportation order. He was arrested and taken to Mountjoy Prison. He told the High Court he had never asked to leave Ireland, nor was he furnished with a copy of his deportation order before Monday, although it was dated May 26th.
Mr Justice Geoghegan said he was glad what had occurred at the airport had been drawn to his attention and he adjourned the case to Monday next.