Swastika daubed in racial attack
A SWASTIKA has been daubed outside the home of a North Wales family in a shocking racially motivated attack.
The Nazi symbol was spraypainted outside Margaret Ogunbanwo’s house in Penygroes, Gwynedd, yesterday morning. The mother-of-two found it as she was leaving her house for a walk.
Mrs Ogunbanwo said the obscene image “stopped her in her tracks” and she took a photo to show her husband Femi before leaving the house.
She runs a business called Maggie’s Exotic Foods from the site of the old Red Lion pub and has lived in Penygroes for 13 years. The family has been subjected to abuse before in the village but this is the first time she felt the need to call in the police.
“We’re a black family, we’ve lived in Penygroes for 13 years and we haven’t had any major issues recently.”
A window in their home was smashed when they first moved to the village and more recently her daughter Ileri’s car was keyed. She did not report the previous two incidents but described this latest attack as a “step too far” so the family called the police.
She has received support from neighbours and a Gwynedd county councillor called the attack “appalling”.
Mrs Ogunbanwo added: “The more I talk to people about it the more I think, ‘Do I need to watch my back?’ Before now I never would have thought it. This is my village, my father is buried in the local cemetery, the people are my people.”
Gwynedd county councillor Craig ab Iago said: “This is disgusting. Maggie and her kids are an integral part of Dyffyrn Nantlle. The family speak Welsh and they are as much a part of our community as anyone. Maggie set up a business here, her children went to school here.
“This appalling racist attack outside her home shows why The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign is necessary. Racism is an issue not just in Minneapolis or London but here in Penygroes, Llanllyfni and Caernarfon, across Wales.
“Being on the receiving end of bigotry is something we know all about here in Wales which is why we must stand in solidarity with Maggie and the wilder BLM campaign. Their fight is our fight.”
Police were approached for comment.