Alexandria My Father is a Hero

My dad is a hero. He was born in Mushin, Lagos State, Nigeria. In 1993, the government was ruled by the military until a general named Babangida offered the people free elections. Three months later, the government annulled the election and my father joined a group to work for democracy called NADECO, the National Democratic Coalition.

On the thirteenth day of resistance to the military government, my father and other members assembled peacefully to plan a nationwide strike and a demonstration. My father was arrested and  hit with batons on his face and head. He was kicked, pushed into a police van and imprisoned with ten other men in a cell meant for two. Every few hours, one or two men would be taken from the cell into an interrogation room where they were tortured. My father was beaten with electrical wire, stripped to his underwear and doused with cold water. The police wanted him to reveal the whereabouts of the key members of NADECO, and when my father remained silent, they threatened to charge him with plotting to overthrow the government. This charge meant death by firing squad.

After being held for weeks in the darkness of his prison cell, my father was saved by his uncle. He became a refugee, traveling through Africa until he found asylum in Canada. He arrived in the United States in 1995, where he is free to speak about the government and assemble peacefully in a group to discuss politics without fear or torture and death.