The family of a Newry nurse has spoken out after she died running away from a group of youths who are alleged to have attacked her previously.
Anu Okasanya (46), originally from Nigeria, had reported being attacked by the same group of youths in the town twice in the past.
As first reported by the Newry Reporter on Wednesday, Anu died last week after the incident in which she had attempted to intervene as the group attacked another person.
While running for cover, the nurse made her way to a neighbour’s house where she suffered an asthma attack and later died in hospital, her brother Gbenga told the paper.
“It seems everybody knows who these kids are,” he said.
“The people on the street seem to know who these kids are and people on the street tell us that the police actually know who these kids are, but of course the police may not have evidence of what has happened.
“Does that mean it needs to be swept under the carpet? I don’t know. But she’s dead. Nobody’s going to bring her back anyway, so I don’t feel there’s anything we can do.”
A senior PSNI commander for the area has said officers had performed CPR on Anu during the incident, and sent condolences to her family.
Superintendent Norman Haslett, District Commander for Newry Mourne and Down, said: “My sincere condolences, and those of my colleagues, are extended to the family and friends of Anu Okusanya.
“When Anu became unwell - after having witnessed an altercation in Newry on 24th August - police officers performed CPR and applied a defibrillator in an attempt to save her life. She was taken to hospital but sadly passed away some days later.
“Our enquiries have established that this verbal altercation involved a number of individuals to which Anu was a witness but not directly involved.
“My sympathy is extended to Anu’s loved ones and friends. If anyone has any further information regarding the incident, please contact police using 101″.
Justice minister Naomi Long said the death was “devastating”.
“I think it speaks to the abject terror that many people from the black and ethnic minority communities in Northern Ireland are living in at the moment,” she told the BBC.
“They are fearful. The number of people who I’ve spoken to over recent weeks who are afraid to go about their normal business in the normal way, who are fearful about using public transport, going out in the evenings with friends after doing a day’s work, is really horrific.
“And, as a society, I think we have got to get to grips, not just with the justice elements of this, and there are justice elements of this, but we have got to get to grips with the prejudice which underlies this kind of behaviour.
“We have got to deal with the societal attitudes that allow these situations to develop, and we have got to tackle the misinformation and disinformation about immigration that we see prevalent online, which is fuelling anger and hatred.”
