A healthcare worker was beaten with an iron bar, leaving him with a broken leg, during a wave of racially motivated assaults that targeted three members of the Nigerian community in Derry last Sunday.
The violence erupted in the Bond Street area, where three separate attacks occurred within a short time of one another. Police investigating the sequence of events believe the assaults are linked.
The targeted victims included the male healthcare worker, a woman whose car windscreen was smashed with a metal rod, and a man assaulted inside a pub.
The woman described being approached by individuals demanding to know where she and her friend came from after she stopped her vehicle. The metal rod shattered her windscreen, showering her in glass and leaving her dealing with persistent anxiety.
“I didn’t feel like leaving my house,” she said of the aftermath.
In response to the violence, the Derry Trades Council organized an anti-rally at Ebrington Square at lunchtime, bringing community members together to condemn the attacks.
Damian Doherty of Derry’s Trades Council told the crowd that organizers felt disgusted by the violence and wanted to make a clear statement.
“We were absolutely disgusted by the attacks, and we felt that the right thing to do was to hold a rally first and foremost to say that you know Derry is not a racist city,” Doherty said.
The injured healthcare worker spoke to the assembled crowd about the fundamental need for mutual respect before becoming emotional and having to be led away.
He told attendees that “everyone deserves to be treated with respect.”
David Lawal, representing the Nigerian community in Derry, said that many community members are working professionals, including medical doctors, nurses, engineers, and lawyers.
He explained that the attacks have left residents deeply apprehensive and afraid for their daily safety and homes.
“People are very disturbed,” Lawal said.
“They can’t even go to work. You don’t even know what’s going to happen to your house,” Lawal said.
Speakers at the Ebrington Square gathering maintained that Derry holds a long-standing identity as a civil rights city where racism holds no place.
