Mum terrified as home targeted in racist attacks

A Nigerian woman living in south Belfast has said she and her daughter are living in fear as their home has been targeted in multiple hate-motivated attacks.

Odegua said her front window has been smashed, eggs have been thrown at the front door and jelly has been put through the letterbox.

Police have received eight reports of anti-social behaviour targeting the property in the past 18 months.

They are treating each of the incidents as "motivated by hate".

The care worker, who lives with her teenage daughter, told BBC News NI they were "terrified".

She said her daughter "doesn’t want to live here for another minute".

"I have been here for years. I don't bother anybody. I don't know why they should be doing this to me - it's really terrifying," she said.

Odegua, who has lived in Northern Ireland for almost two decades, said her daughter "can't even sit at the window because of when they broke the window".

"She was born here, so she should be free," she added.

Odegua said her daughter has been subjected to much of the abuse - on one occasion having custard poured over her by a child when she was in a park.

Now she feels intimidated and doesn't want to go there with her friends.

Youths have also shouted out the number of her house as her daughter walked down the street - as a way of telling her that they know where they lives.

“She always tells me that the kids are calling out the number of my house. She just walks on and doesn’t say anything to them," she said.

Odegua said on some occasions the youths have called her names and told her: "You don’t belong here, go back to where you come from. You are not allowed here."

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief inspector Mark Conway said: "Hate crime hurts communities on many levels and racially motivated hate crime is a priority issue for local police in south Belfast."

He said police have "engaged with the victim after each incident and continue to work with local community representatives and partner agencies to try and find a solution".

He said that officer patrols have been stepped up across south Belfast in recent weeks in response to increased reports of anti-social behaviour.

Appealing for information, he added: "No one should feel intimated or threatened due to their ethnicity and officers will continue to pursue those who commit those offences.”

Meanwhile, police said they were called to two separate incidents in the south Belfast area on 31 May, both of which are being treated as racially motivated.

In one, a group of people, including children, shouted racial abuse. A 31-year-old man was subsequently arrested.

In the second, a man in his 20s, was reportedly verbally racially abused by a man and a group of children. The victim was tripped up by the group and fell, sustaining minor injuries.