A UK based Nigerian lesbian Nneka Obazee has reportedly attempted suicide after being informed that she was to be deported.
The 34-year-old asylum seeker was hospitalized after she overdosed on pain medication in order to stop herself from being from being deported. Nneka was to have been found with her stepson on a charter flight to her home country, Nigeria before the incident occurred.
The LGBT community expressed their disapproval as they said despite fearing for her life, Ms Obazee was set to be deported on a 11pm charter flight on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for activist group Lesbian and Gays Support the Migrants who was in direct contact with Nneka said;
“When Nneka was made aware that she would be returned to Nigeria she was so frightened that she attempted to suicide and took an overdose which demonstrates how dire the situation would be for her if she was returned to Nigeria”
Ms Obazee has been living in Manchester for the past four years, she ran away from her abusive husband after arriving the UK in March 2013 and was only able to reveal her sexuality once in the UK, something which is highly frowned upon in her home country.
She is currently in Yarls Wood, and an active member of the LGBTQ community in Manchester, she had her case rejected by the Home Office and failed two appeal tribunal but is currently undergoing a judicial review.
According to reports Rajiv Bera, an LGBTQ specialist senior caseworker at Asylum Aid, said , “Sexual identity is a very difficult thing to have to ‘prove’, not least when it has been the cause of significant trauma in the past.”
He stated that he represents people who have unsuccessfully exhausted their refugee status and appeal process.
“By the time they are recognised as refugees, they have experienced the effects of disbelief, destitution and detention, often at a huge cost to their mental health.
We are concerned that too often people’s sexuality is disbelieved and asylum claims incorrectly refused. It’s also concerning that somebody can be removed from the country when there is a judicial review outstanding.”
The Nigerian culture frowns heavily on same-sex relationships or marriage and in 2013 made it illegal to engage in such. Anti-gay laws can lead to 14 years in prison.