I am ashamed that my country can treat a family of Nigerian citizens so cruelly, so unjustly and so dishonestly

Praised be the search engines of the internet thanks to which I just found this letter published on October 16, 2011 even though I had seen a copy already in August.

The title is an extract of Christopher Booker’s letter to the Nigerian High Commission in the UK. The letter is published by The World from African Perspective:

Mr. M.M.B. Aliyu
Minister/Head of Section
Nigeria High Commission
London, UK

Dear Mr Aliyu,

I have been asked to write to you by a Nigerian family who I believe have over the past year become the victims of a very serious case of injustice at the hands of the UK authorities.I believe you may already have been approached by others on this matter.

Since last June, as a columnist with the Sunday Telegraph, I have been following very closely the case of Chiwar and Gloria Musa, Nigerian citizens whose six children were last year taken from them by social workers of Haringey council. Not only have I followed on a regular basis what ensued from their loss of their children, but I have also been made familiar with many papers relating to the case.

It has been quite clear to me that Haringey council was very seriously misled over the evidence on which it originally tore this family apart. On the basis of hearsay, they were under the impression that Mrs Musa was a ‘sex worker’ and that the six children were all from different fathers.Both impressions could not have been more mistaken, Mrs Musa is in fact a respected Christian preacher and an author of several books, Mr Musa is a respectable businessman. DNA tests on the parents and children confirmed that Mr Musa was the father of all of them.

Haringey also used as evidence a mysterious letter allegedly written by the Musa’s eldest daughter suggesting that the girl had been ill-treated, Comparison of that letter with the girl;s own handwriting suggests that she did not write the letter.

Since that time the entire family has been subjected to appallingly inhuman treatment at the hands of the council, its agents and the court system.

The children have clearly not been at all happy in foster care, as was connfirmed by an independent social worker who initially reported, after interviewing them, that they all wished to be returned to their parents. But, in highly suspicious circumstances, she subsequently changed her report to suit the line taken by Haringey that the children did not wish to come home. The oldest child, the alleged author of the handwritten letter, has not been seen by her parents since August or by her brother and sisters for several months. There are considerable grounds for disquiet as to what has happened to her.

The British courts have not subjected the evidence produced by Haringey to any proper examination, The Musas have never been given proper legal representation to put their case. On two occasions substantial sums of money were given to lawyers who promised to take the case on their behalf (by myself and by another close supporter of the family). In each instance the lawyers took the money and walked away, leaving Mr and Mrs Musa without any representation in court..

I know there is probably very little you or the High Commission can do to intervene in this distressing and disturbing case, but from all I have learned about it I am ashamed that my country can treat a family of Nigerian citizens so cruelly, so unjustly and so dishonestly. In all my years as a journalist, I have rarely known a family to have been subjected to such vindictive behaviour, or British officials, to cover up their mistake, to have told so many lies.

Whatever you may have been told about the Musa family, I would like to assure you that, from all the evidence I have seen, they are good people telling the truth. I believe that their treatment at the hands of the UK authorities should be a matter of considerable concern to Nigeria’s official representatives in this country.

If you would be interested in talking to me further about this case, strictly off the record, I would of course be happy to speak to you.

yours sincerely,

Christopher Booker
Sunday Telegraph

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