Law firm director thanks Oldham anti-racism protesters

The Immigration Advice Service had the addresses of two of its UK offices shared widely on social media as potential targets for rioters earlier this month.

Just one of the addresses was correct — its head office in Oldham — which frightened director Ono Okeregha, in the midst of “wanton violence” happening across England, following the deaths of three girls killed in Southport.

To Mr Okeregha’s surprise, up to 200 people gathered outside their premises on August 7 in a powerful display of defiance that he says he can never repay them for.

He said: “We can't repay the love that was shown to us on the day and we’re also grateful to the local police. They were really professional and very helpful.

"They visited a number of times, [had] patrols throughout and kept us informed regularly of what was happening, so it was excellent community policing.”

Nationwide there were large anti-racism demonstrations in response to Islamaphobic and racist attacks after the killings of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, in Southport.

Misinformation about the identity of the suspect was largely attributed to sparking the racially-motivated disorder that ensued.

Anti-racism protesters in Oldham  (Image: NQ)

Axel Rudakubana, then 17, has been charged with murdering the three girls and the attempted murder of 10 others — eight children and two adults.

Judge Menary KCA lifted the anonymity order preventing the youth from being named at Liverpool Crown Court, less than a week before his 18th birthday.

The violence saw individuals, mosques, hotels housing asylum seekers, and businesses targeted, including immigration law firms and advice agencies.

Ono Okeregha (Image: Ono Okeregha)

The anti-immigration rhetoric surrounding the violence made Mr Okeregha apprehensive for his staff and clients, but “most importantly, our thoughts and prayers were to the families of the young girls who were fatally attacked and those who were injured as well”.

In response to the threats Mr Okeregha removed the signage from outside their Oldham office and they have remained down.

He said: “We didn’t know when we could be attacked. We have a building with very prominent signs and a lot of people in Oldham know where we are, so we were very frightened.

“The first thing we did was to ask clients and staff not to come to the office.

"The police were quickly in touch and asked us to lock and secure the buildings, and we took extra measures to take all the signs down from the building.

"That's how worried we were. It's a shame we had to do that but our first priority was the wellbeing and safety of clients and staff.”

“We're living in fear,” he added.

Although there has been no far-right presence at the Immigration Advice Service’s Oldham office so far, the emotional impact is “long-lasting”, Mr Okeregha explained.

The office partially reopened a week later but a number of staff were anxious to return and  clients mostly being seen remotely.

Mr Okeregha said: “As you can understand, fear is not something that suddenly goes away.

"People are still apprehensive that there could be a spontaneous outburst and the building having been identified as a potential flare up, it’s worrying for some colleagues, and we understand that. Some people will need a lot of persuasion to be able to feel free to come to the office again.”

More than 1,000 people have been arrested and almost 600 charged for their involvement in the unrest in Britain and Northern Ireland, with the longest prison sentence so far being six years.

“As people are being prosecuted and sentenced for these offences … there may be some backlash, so people have genuine and legitimate concerns.

“Whilst the rioting may have stopped, the fear persists and people are still anxious and worried, and rightly so.”