Hopeful smiles from behind the barbed wire fence

Saskia Iloba putting a brave face on as she talks to
Rochdale Online reporter Kirsty Rigg inside Yarl's Wood detention centre

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Rochdale Online News reporter Kirsty Rigg talks face-to-face with the Iloba family at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre, Bedfordshire...

From behind the 20ft walls of Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre, there is not much view of the outside world.

For the Iloba family who, after five years in the UK, were bundled into the back of a van to be deported, there is also little to view for the future.

Betty Iloba and her children, Toby (18), Saskia (17), and Emmanuel (14), spoke of how they were sent to the UK by their policeman father, who feared for their lives, just months before he himself was killed.

In an exclusive interview with Rochdale Online News yesterday (Saturday 19 July), the family spoke of the moment 13 officers in bullet proof vests burst into their Falinge home and arrested them on 6 July, before trying to force them on a plane to Nigeria.

Saskia, 17, was naked in her bedroom when officers came in and told her she had 20 minutes to gather all her belongings.

She said: “I froze in shock, sort of waiting for them to say sorry and leave the room.

“But they didn’t, they stood there and watched me get dressed. I was horrified and really scared.

“I felt like I had done something really terrible, like I’d murdered someone or something.”

The former Head Girl at North Manchester High School looked away as she fought tears, before adding: “We have never hurt anyone, and we are being kept here like animals.

“This place is hell on Earth; we are sleeping on thin mattresses and eating the worst food I have ever tasted."

She continued: “It’s like they’re trying to break us; trying to make us give in and go to Nigeria, but we are trying to keep each other strong.

"I have started to lose my hair with the stress. That hasn't happened since my dad died."

Older brother Toby added: “My mum cries every day. She just cries. It hurts her to see her children in this situation when she has tried to get the best for us.

“We are prisoners who eat and sleep, eat and sleep; it hurts to see my little brother have to go through this.”

Saskia added: “It is like a nightmare that you can’t wake up from. We keep praying for it to be over. We just pray.”

Toby, who was planning to study Business Studies and ICT at the University of Manchester, spoke of how he was frogmarched onto an aircraft three days after being arrested, but was allowed back off after his younger siblings refused to board the plane - and they could not be forced without a court order due to being minors.

Yarl's Wood Detention Centre is in the Bedfordshire countryside, but despite the tranquil appearance of the long approach road, the double layered razor wire gives a foretaste of the oppressive atmosphere inside. Visitors are kept waiting before being fingerprinted and photographed and forced to leave all possessions in lockers before they are allowed to make their way to the visitor hall. Visitors then go through an archway metal detector, have their fingerprints checked again and are questioned and frisked before being allowed in. 'Inmates' are marched in and marched out of the visitor hall by guards. Inside the hall their are huge domed cameras on the ceiling and numerous guards watching every move.

Toby said: "We can't see out, we can't even see the rain never mind see the bird's fly."

Toby explained there is little to do other than eat and try to sleep, there is a gym but it has been closed for two days and open for under an hour on other days, he says. He looked exhausted from lack of sleep and complained of "feeling so tired" adding he just wanted their ordeal "over with".

And yet despite their obvious distress at their situation the Iloba children put on a brave face and kept a smile on their faces for most of the visit, but occasionally the tears welled up their eyes as they described the way their lives had been jolted and how they felt like criminals.

Asked what they thought would happen to them if they were forced back to Nigeria, Toby said: "We would be killed. My father was killed by people who would kill us. My mum would be a threat to them and they would want us out of the way."

Asked about the difficulty in providing evidence that their father was murdered, which would almost certainly uphold their claim for asylum, Toby said: "My mum has been trying but Nigeria is not like England, it is a corrupt and violent country, people who know what happened to my father are fearful that if they provide evidence they will be murdered. In those circumstances would you help us?"

The Iloba family asked for their thanks to Paul Rowen MP, for his help in trying to keep the family in the country, to be publicised.

Saskia said: “One of the reasons we have kept it together is because of the unbelievable support we’ve had.

“Paul Rowen is trying to chase up the documents which were sent to the Home Office, he is really dedicated to helping us and I’d like to say a massive thank you to him.

“And to everyone else who has helped with the campaign, it means a lot to all of us.”

As the visit came to a close, Toby added: "I never thought I would say this, but I really miss Rochdale."

A legal review is taking place. Rochdale Online News will report on the progress.