A man who came to attend an architectural conference in Dublin was tortured and 'brutally beaten;

A man who came to participate in an architecture conference in Ireland was tortured and 'brutally beaten'. Nigerian architect on terrorizing Dublin attack

Nigerian architect and online business owner Mr Onyema Udeze has opened up about being the victim of a racist attack in Dublin city center and falsely accused of rape when she was in Dublin to speak at a conference at the RDS.

Visited Dublin last year to speak at a construction industry event at the RDS. Onyema Udeze was in Dublin to speak at a construction industry event at the RDS. Mr Udeze arrived in Ireland on a 'C' visa, which allowed him to stay in the country for up to 90 days. After completing his RDS speaking engagement in early September 2023, he held meetings with several companies and attended several other industry events.

On October 9 last year, while returning to his accommodation in Dublin 1, he met an African woman at a bus stop in Upper O'Connell Street and they began to discuss life in Ireland. When he was sitting at the bus stop, two Irish women complained that they were sitting too close to him. "They mentioned something about our conversation. They said I shouldn't sit next to them. Then went to call some boys to tell them to force me to move away from them," Mr Mr Onyema Udeze said.

The Nigerian woman, Mr Onyema Udeze was talking to left the area around the place and was approached by several men. "I tried to explain to them, but before I could say a word, they took it as a fight and started hitting and beating me," he said, adding that during the incident, his phone went missing. Two members of the gardaí arrived when the standoff ended.

Video footage later circulated online begins with the arrival of the guards and shows a dazed Mr Udese with a bloodied face demanding the return of his phone to a white Irishman. At the beginning of the video, the two men are physically held by gardaí. A man recording the footage points a finger in Mr Udeze's face and accuses him of rape. The camera pans to bystanders, one of whom is said to be Mr. Udeze's victim. The woman shown stood aside from the incident. 

"You're a rapist," another man, who is holding two guards with Mr. Onyema Udeze, repeatedly yells into Mr. Udeze's face. "F**k you, give me my phone," responds Mr Udeze. At that point, a man in the background demanded that Mr. Udeze "need to be arrested."

Describing his feelings at the time, Mr Udeze said: "I'm a foreigner in Dublin... I took the phone I use to go around with maps and make payments. I knew if I didn't get it back. The phone, it's going to be a big problem for me."

🚨This incident happened in October 2023.

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A Nigerian architect and online business owner was assaulted and falsely accused of rape.

AGS arrested the victim Omyema. He’s still fighting for justice.

Full story: https://t.co/HamRUZWyrtpic.twitter.com/bMq03xQiOq pic.twitter.com/SmL9meWyGl

— known humanist🧐 (@lil_doza)  November 3, 2024 

In the video, the two gardaí briefly separate Mr Udeze and the Irish man, at which point the Irish man breaks free from the grip of the garda members and is encouraged by other bystanders to leave the area.

Mr Udeze can then be heard telling the man to "give me my phone" and the two gardaí then attempt to handcuff Mr Udeze. In the footage, as Mr Udeze is being stopped by gardaí in the street, a voice can be heard from behind the camera laughing and saying "Little rapist, nobody took your phone. You'll see us again on these streets and I promise you we won't say anything about the gardaí. "Send some boys to a gardai station. . "He'll get it when he gets out," says another voice threatening Mr. Udeze.

Members of the gardaí brought him to a nearby station, a decision Mr Udeze said he would take issue with. But the attackers all left and they took me to the station without trying to understand what was really going on. Udeze's stand was that he was unjustly detained and that other persons involved in the incident should not be allowed to leave the scene.

Udeze said he was held in a cell for several hours before being released from the station around 3am. He said he went to hospital as a precaution because of a head injury and remembers signing a document about his release from the garda station. Later he realized that the document was their caution. At that point, he said, he realized he had to sign a document to be allowed to leave the station.

I told them I didn't know where I was. I don't know how to get back to my hotel because I usually use maps to find my location... in the middle of the night. I never got that phone back. ," said Mr. Udeze. After being released from the station, he wandered around Dublin until he found a place to live. Later, when he was able to connect to the Internet via his laptop, he realized his nightmare was not over, and video of the incident soon hit social media. I took to Twitter to see some of the posts from the incident. I began to see all the details. They said that I was trying to rape a pregnant woman. 

Asked if he had received any grounds or reports to investigate in relation to any of the acts he was publicly accused of, the gardaí said "no other matters were being investigated at the time". Along with his background in architecture, Mr. Udeze is also a content creator and web designer. He says his online reputation is very important in his work. In an attempt to set the record straight, he has posted about the incident on his personal LinkedIn profile.

Some people started approaching me. Some people were even kind enough to give me a phone so I could reactivate my Apple Wallet and stuff to survive. In his LinkedIn post, Udeze said the situation he found was "gross injustice, racism and abuse of my fundamental rights." I was brutally tortured. I had to go to the hospital. "They took me through an X-ray scan just to make sure I don't have cuts, internal bleeding, fractures or major injuries," Mr Udeze said.

Although recently invited to attend further business events in Ireland, Udeze says he has no intention of returning. "I could attend an event. I could come again. But why would I?" He said.

Mr Udeze said that in the moments before the attack at a bus stop, several men claimed to have tried to rape a white pregnant woman nearby. He said a video posted online showing moments after repeating similar allegations went viral on social media, prompting him to speak out to clear his name. A post seen by nearly 50,000 people captioned the video, "Locals hold back migrant chasing pregnant woman until gardaí arrive and arrest her." Others contained similar remarks, branding him a rapist or a threat to women.

Campaigners monitoring anti-immigrant and xenophobia groups say the attack on Onyema Udeze is an example of recent incidents involving non-Irish and non-white people, who have been accused of baseless accusations after the footage was later circulated. 

Before leaving Ireland, Mr Udeze contacted a number of organizations to inform them of what had happened to him during his visit to Ireland. He also initiated the process of Onyema Udeze making a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) about his arrest. Now back in Nigeria, he says he wants to see his complaint continue. I still want justice and that is why I am writing letters to all the authorities. "My fundamental problem with Ireland is the security system," Mr Udeze said.

He said he has since seen videos posted online of similar incidents, including others in which non-white or non-Irish people are attacked after being publicly accused of raping or abusing children. 

The direct link between misinformation occurring online and fear-mongering in communities and growing violent divisions has been going on for years. “Information, misinformation and violence are shared so quickly and move across them at lightning speed. Immigrants, including Indians, often have to defend themselves against such accusations. Examples of this are harassment of non-Irish candidates during elections.