Nigerian woman released from Mountjoy

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was confronted by anti-racism protestors

Nigerian woman Pamela Izbekhai was released from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin last Monday 23 January. Pamela was arrested earlier in the month in County Sligo, after she went into hiding for five weeks to avoid a deportation order.

Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan granted her a conditional release, citing the fact Izbekhai hadn't seen her children since 8 December as one of the reasons. She now awaits the outcome of her application to bring a legal challenge to a deportation order made last December.

Izbekhai told the court that she had gone into hiding because she was afraid her two little girls, Naomi (five) and Jemima (three) would be subject to female genital mutilation if deported back to Nigeria. She broke down several times in the witness box as she described how she had already lost one daughter to this forced practice.

The woman's children are currently in foster care. "I am trying to make sure they are safe and I will do everything I can as a mother to safeguard my children," she told the court.

Lawyers for the Minister for Justice opposed her release.

Outside the court Pamela told journalists that she was looking forward to seeing her children again.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was confronted by anti-racism protestors as he launched a multicultural magazine at a Dublin Hotel. Members of Residents against Racism heckled the Minister as he launched Ireland 2006 at the Russell Court Hotel. One of the protestors was Nigerian UCC graduate Ifedinma Dimbo, who is fighting to stop the deportation of her family to Lagos.