They were preparing to sing songs or praises and express hope for a continued future in Canada at the Benefit Concert Friday night to keep the Ogunkoya refugee family here in Canada. The concert was held at Rose City Kids in Welland, which sponsored the event along with Water Concepts.
The Proclamation Band, the Faith Welland Worship Team and Jennifer Lynn performed gospel music and uplifting melodies throughout the evening in order to raise funds to pay the Ogunkoya family’s legal fees, estimated at $20,000, noted Sonya Wierenga, Executive Director and one of the founders of Rose City Kids, a benevolent faith-based organization, which assists youth, teens and their families improve their quality of life.
Just prior to the concert, Wierenga told Thorold News through developing relationships with their youth and teen membership, Rose City Kids often become involved with their family’s many needs and issues, such as: mental health, cancer, teenage suicide, and disabilities, but Wierenga said she has never been involved with an issue as problematic as a refugee family on the verge of possible deportation.
She admits it has been difficult dealing with many levels of government, the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and legal matters. The first lawyer for the Ogunkoya family was fired, and replaced by a Toronto immigration lawyer, but the legal fees are already $10,000-$11,000 to date, she noted.
The Ogunkoya family arrived in Quebec in January, 2018. Morufat, the mother, arrived with her three children: Victor, 16, Hephzibah, 14 and Rejoice, 10 from Nigeria. They claimed asylum after facing religious persecution for becoming Christian, and recanting Islam. In an earlier interview, Morufat noted her father is well connected with extreme Muslim clerics and has made threats against her and her family’s life. He has attacked her and her son, leaving scars on her son’s hands, as cutting off limbs and fingers is a common form of punishment there. However, Immigration seems to be ignoring the evidence, said Morufat.
While there are accounts from several Christian-based organizations about Boko Harem, a Muslim extremist group, attacking Christian churches in the middle belt regions of Nigeria, the government there downplays the violence and publicly states they have it under control. However, Morufat said earlier most of the political leaders of Nigeria are diehard Muslims, who pose a threat to her family if she is forced to return home.
Morufat’s lawyer has stated that her meeting with immigration on Sept. 24 would likely result in her receiving a deportation order, in spite of the fact that the Ogunkoyas are a model immigrant family. Morufat has a job working at Embassy Suites and can support her family. Her son, Victor, has won several best student awards at Notre Dame Secondary School in Welland. She also helps others by volunteering at many soup kitchens and non-profit organizations. Through Rose City Kids, a petition of 30,000 signatures was gathered to keep the Ogunkoya family in Canada, to no avail.
Supporters of the family recently picketed an immigration office in Toronto, which doesn’t appear to have had any effect on Immigration’s decision, as of yet. Several representatives of Rose City Kids attended a recent Liberal rally in Niagara-on-the-Lake to meet with Justin Trudeau and handed him a letter on the Ogunkoya case.
Wierenga said the Prime Minister agreed to read it, but any attempts to get a response from the prime minister’s office since then have been unsuccessful.
However Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey told the Thorold News he is aware of the situation and has been working with the family and will continue to do so.
But Wierenga said they have been advised the deportation letter/order will likely request a swift removal of their family within a few weeks “It’s because, the lawyer believes, there are so many illegals in Canada and they want to remove them,” she said.
When asked how Morufat is handling this bleak scenario, Wierenga replied: “Not well. The family is scared out of their minds,” and she said Morufat no longer wants to talk with the press. The lawyer has advised Morufat not to tell immigration officers at the next meeting about any rallies or protests, because if he or she thinks Morufat is desperate and goes into hiding, Immigration will detain her “on the spot.”
Besides the emotional anguish, Morufat is physically going to have difficulty flying back to Nigeria, as the flight is about 12 hours. About a year ago, she fell down a flight of stairs, hurting her back and sitting for lengthy periods of time is painful. She was undergoing physiotherapy and currently sees a chiropractor, which is helping her, said Wierenga. The chiropractor has taken x-rays and is allowing Morufat to pay what she can afford for treatments.
The lawyer has told the family that once the deportation order and its details are received, he will proceed with several steps, including a stay of execution, noted Wierenga, adding: “The lawyer said he will not talk to the press.”
Rose City Kids are also working with One Free World International and a group from Saskatchewan that advocate for freedom of religious beliefs. She is hoping they will offer some new advice and evidence to support their case. Currently, immigration officials want to return the Ogunkoya family to Port Harcourt, in southern Nigeria, where there is a substantial population of Christians, and they believe she will be safe. However, Port Harcourt is only about 200 miles from where she previously lived, pointed out Wierenga. Morufat had stated earlier that her father is well-connected with government officials, and he would likely be alerted when she lands in Nigeria, but he would definitely know of her whereabouts when her children register for school.
From Immigration’s perspective, because Morufat and her family landed in the U.S. prior to coming to Canada, she is being denied refugee status. Currently, Morufat’s husband lives in the U.S. somewhere, but once she learned of U.S. President Donald Trump’s stance on immigration, she brought her family to Canada for safety.
For those who would like to support this cause, please visit: www.rosecitykids.com and click on the Ogunkoya family to donate.
