Angry protests erupted outside the Nigerian High Commission Wednesday as activists denounced Nigerian state complicity in forced removals of immigration prisoners on the day that roughly 40 women were deported to Lagos against their will.

At least 20 women were forced onto a coach branded ‘Just Go’ at the Yarl’s Wood immigration prison and driven toward London’s Stansted Airport for removal. Just Go chief executive Luis Arteaga could not be reached for comment.

According to a notice advertising the protest, the demo was demanded by women who were being deported that day.

The women are “put on the planes only due to the generous collaboration of the Nigerian authorities, which reportedly sends an official from the embassy every time,” said a mass email.

Though no resistance was seen at Yarl’s Wood, one of the detainees facing deportation said, “Everyone is scared,” adding: “Everybody is in a state – it’s just too much.”

It is understood that the women were flown to Nigeria on a private, charter flight with Nigerian detainees from other immigration detention centers.
Home Office officials use charter flights instead of regular commercial services for ‘high demand’ destinations such as Nigeria & Afghanistan where many migrants and asylum seekers originate from.

Charter flights also tend to have a lower profile than commercial flights as they are unseen by the travelling public.
Eyewitnesses claim that five women were given a last-minute reprieve when they were removed from the airport bound coaches at Yarl’s Wood.

The protest comes on the back of the anniversary of the death of Jimmy Mubenga who died while he was being restrained by G4S guards aboard a British Airways flight to Angola on October 12 last year. Relatives and campaigners marked the anniversary with a candlelit vigil outside the Crown Prosecution Service.
Private security firm G4S was slammed by the chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick who described their officers as showing a “shamefully unprofessional and derogatory attitude” in a report issued last month (Sept.)

Lawyers have long argued the use of excessive force by private contractors to restrain detainees could be a violation of their human rights.

One immigration detainee described how her friend was “beaten and handcuffed” before being bundled into a prison van “like a terrorist”. She also recounted the story of a woman named Gianyit who was allegedly pushed up against a wall and thrown to the floor by a Serco employee for asking to have her bottle of water filled. “There is a culture of fear and intimidation,” she said, adding: “Everyone is shying away from talking.”

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said that she believes the treatment of illegal immigrants like her has deteriorated since David Cameron’s call at the Conservative party conference for members of the public to denounce those suspected of being in the UK illegally to the authorities. “They don’t want us here – they are being racist,” she said.

Nigerian officials are believed to assist British authorities with mass deportations by issuing travel documents in return for cash payments and other sweeteners.

One Nigerian bystander at the High Commission protest described the Nigerian government as “useless,” adding that they “allow it [deportations] to happen.”

Diplomatic staff at the mission promised that a representative of the Nigerian immigration office would address the crowd though this never happened.

The Home Office, G4S and Serco could not be reached for comment.