'If I am deported to Nigeria I will face death for witchcraft'
Campaigners are fighting the deportation of a Nigerian woman who claims she could be killed for witchcraft after her one-year-old daughter died.
Cynthia Owie came to Britain on Boxing Day 2008 with her baby daughter, Daniella. She was given leave to remain when Daniella contracted meningitis and required hospital treatment.
Ms Owie was told she would be deported after her daughter died last year, as she had no grounds to extend her stay.
However, she claims she has received death threats from people in Nigeria who believe she "engineered" Daniella's death through witchcraft.
Ms Owie, 33, said: "I have been threatened that I will be killed if I go back. I have been told I am a witch and murdered our daughter."
Ms Owie also claims she was treated "like an animal" at the Yarl's Wood detention centre, in Bedford, where failed asylum seekers are held before removal.
Her cause has been taken up by West Ham MP Lyn Brown as well as members of the Ascension Parish Church in Custom House, east London, which has been providing Ms Owie with accommodation and support for two years.
Rev Chris Hanson, the vicar of the church, took the case to the Home Office last week and said the community was praying that she would be allowed to stay.
"Cynthia's case is one in a thousand," he said. "She has gone about trying to stay in this country in a God-honouring way. I am hopeful that the Home Office will understand her exceptional circumstances. When the baby was discovered as being very ill, she was accused of witchcraft.
People out in Nigeria believe she brought on this illness and we believe if she is returned to Nigeria she would be killed."
Ms Brown said she had a "very positive meeting" with Immigration Minister Damian Green. "He accepted that the circumstances were unique and I am hopeful he will be compassionate."
Ms Owie was originally given limited leave to remain on compassionate grounds, but the term was extended.
The Home Office does not discuss individual cases.
