Mother terrified as home targeted in racist attack

A woman whose home was daubed with racist graffiti has said she is now considering leaving Strabane.

The words “immigrants out” were painted on the gable wall of Uche Ukeje’s home in Ballycolman in the County Tyrone town on Wednesday evening.

Ms Ukeje, who is originally from Nigeria, said she and her two daughters, aged 24 and 14, have been left terrified and deeply traumatised.

The police are treating the incident as a racially-motivated hate crime.

“I can’t understand why they did this. We are in Strabane two years and I have a job and my 14 year old daughter is doing well at Holy Cross College,” she told BBC News NI.

She added: “We love Strabane and our neighbours. We have never been in trouble. We are not criminals.”

Sinn Féin councillor Paul Boggs described the incident as “disgusting” and said it left a mother and her two young daughters in “a state of abject fear and dread”.

The Strabane Ethnic Community Association described the incident as “really sickening” and said it was “incredibly depressing for anyone to target this lovely family”.

Boggs said the incident was not representative of the estate or the wider Strabane area and was carried out by “a very small minority” who have nothing to offer but “fear and hate”.

“Racism, wherever it raises its ugly head, must be opposed, challenged and stamped out,” he said.

“The Ballycolman is and has always been a proud, friendly and welcoming community and this form of racism flies in the face of the spirit of this community.”

Kamini Rao, from the Strabane Ethnic Community Association told BBC News NI that they had met with the family, who are originally from Nigeria, and were supporting them.

“They are valued members of our community, contributing to the local economy, working, and also attending school here in Strabane.

“This incident is not reflective at all of the values of our community here and needs to be called out unequivocally.”

Ms Rao thanked the local community for rallying around the family and said the “vile message” had since been removed from the gable wall.

Police said officers were notified of the graffiti at around 07:45 BST on Thursday.

They have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, an immigrant family have reportedly left their home in fear after the slogan “locals only’ was painted on the front door of the house in Crumlin, County Antrim.

The police are also treating that as a hate crime.

Local Sinn Féin councillor Anne Marie Logue condemned it as “despicable” and “an act of racist cowardice”.

“As a result, this family has left Crumlin town in fear,” she said.

“This is a hate crime in the worst possible sense.”