A MEMBER of Strabane’s republican community has issued a stark warning to those responsible for a racist graffiti attack targeting a Nigerian family, vowing that minorities will be defended ‘by any means necessary’.
The warning follows a disturbing incident in Ballycolman two weeks ago, where racist graffiti reading ‘Immigrants out’ was scrawled on the gable wall of Uche Ujeke’s home.
The initials ‘CAAI’ – believed to stand for ‘Community Action Against Immigration’ – were also painted on the property.
Ujeke, a Nigerian national, lives in the house with her two children. The family initially considered leaving the area following the attack, but were persuaded to stay after a show of support from local residents and members of republican groups Saoradh and Éistigí, who helped remove the graffiti.
A man claiming to speak on behalf of several independent republicans in the area, who did not wish to be named, condemned the attack in the strongest terms.
“I have been a member of the Ballycolman community for fifty years and a member of the broader republican community, and I have never known a racially motivated attack in Ballycolman in that time – or indeed in Strabane as a whole,” he said.
“Our minority population in Strabane have every right to be here, and the republican community will do everything in their power to ensure that right is upheld – by any means necessary.”
When pressed on what exactly that phrase meant, he declined to elaborate, but assured the Chronicle that ‘the republican community would take steps if needed to uphold the Irish republican ideal of opposing racism in all its forms’.
He continued, “The mentality of the people who carried out this attack does not belong in Irish republicanism and does not represent Irish republican ideals. Those who wish to abandon these ideals are not welcome in Strabane.”
The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) also weighed in, issuing a statement on social media condemning the attack and urging the community to come forward with information.
“We understand that current immigration policy – designed to enrich gombeen capitalists at the expense of workers’ wages and conditions – is anti-working class and must be opposed,” the IRSP wrote.
“However, targeting a vulnerable mother and her two children for intimidation is not the way to address the immigration crisis. The IRSP will not tolerate this racism in our communities.”
The statement added, “Help us identify the racist cowards who skulk in the night, so that working-class justice can be delivered. We appeal to those genuine in the migrant/ethnic community to come forward to the IRSP if they feel fear or threatened. Irish Republican Socialists don’t tolerate lumpen bullies.”
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