The news-makers: Where are they now?

Olivia and Great Agbonlahor: Hoping to return to europe

SOME 139 people were deported from the State in 2007, but none received more attention than Great Agbonlahor and his family.

The boy, who was then six years old, had severe autism and his mother, Olivia, had pleaded against deportation to Nigeria.

She arrived in Ireland from Italy in 2003 with Great and his twin, Melissa, after death threats were made against her husband, Martins Agbonlahor.

A journalist, he had been writing articles in Italy about corruption in Nigeria and the gang culture. The family made a decision that she should leave Italy with the children and he remain and continue his work.

They sought asylum here but because they had come from another EU state, there was no provision to grant asylum and the application was rejected.

Their case had struck a chord because of Great’s plight, and an action group was set up to prevent the deportation.

Olivia warned that Great would be treated like an outcast in Nigeria and could end up in a psychiatric hospital because autism was associated with evil and voodoo in Nigeria.

The Agbonlahors lived in Clonakilty and Killarney, where special needs assistants worked with Great and he made “fantastic progress”, according to their solicitor Kevin Brophy.

However, despite the public support, their appeals failed and they were deported to Lagos on August 14th, 2007.

It appeared that Ms Agbonlahor’s fears were being realised when they arrived in Lagos. In an e-mail to Mr Brophy, she wrote that Great “ranted, raved and shrieked ceaselessly” when they arrived at the airport.

“People immediately gave him a distance and some tried to stop him in the hard way, by smacking him harshly on the head. Even when I tried to explain that he was a special needs child, people just laughed, ridiculing me in their jest and maintaining that special needs children are supposed to be in the psychiatric hospital.”

She stayed in Nigeria for a short time but on finding no school for Great, she decided to move to Ghana, and remains there three years later. Having failed to find special needs education for Great, she decided to teach him at home.

While it has been difficult, she told Irish friends that she was making progress. After some difficulty settling in, her daughter Melissa is doing very well in school, regularly coming first in her class.

Ms Agbonlahor has stayed in touch with some Irish friends since she left and people have sent books and computer learning aids to help Great.

However, the telephone system in Ghana is unreliable and months can pass without contact. The Irish Times was unable to make contact with her this week but Rosanna Flynn, of Residents Against Racism, last spoke to Olivia about two months ago.

“Things are still the same in Ghana,” Ms Flynn said. “She is disappointed that she can’t get a proper school for Great but she’s doing her best.”

She said Ms Agbonlahor took Great to a church once in the hope that it might help his condition, but the pastor just told him to “go home and sin no more”.

Ms Flynn said the Agbonlahors had not given up hope of returning to Europe, and eventually Ireland. Martins Agbonlahor has applied for citizenship in Italy and the family would then seek reunification there.

However, Mr Brophy said they could face obstacles in reuniting the family because Ms Agbonlahor was deported from another European state.

He said the Irish case was always weak legally, but the Government could have made an exception on humanitarian grounds without creating a precedent. “The case galvanised so many people at the time,” he said. “I still think about them and wonder how Great is doing.”

(Series concluded)