By Uduma Kalu
Nigerians living in London have blamed African leaders for the riots that has rocked the United Kingdom since last Saturday.

According to them, the riots which were allegedly led by 99 percent blacks, was a reaction to years of poor leadership in Africa and the harsh economic realities in the United Kingdom also. British austerity measures have hit low-income areas like Tottenham hard.

Theone week riots were fuelled by the killing of a black man, Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, fatally shot Thursday night last week in North London’s Tottenham Hale section. Duggan, who was a passenger in a minicab at the time of the shooting, was initially stopped as a part of an initiative to recover illegal guns in the area. Although an illegal firearm was found at the scene and initial reports suggested a gun was fired at police, The Guardian of London asserts that ballistic reports now show that all of the gunfire came from police.

A scene at the Tottenham riot in UK

After Duggan was shot, his family and the Tottenham community were in shock. A peaceful protest was planned for Friday evening, and the family wanted to meet with police officials to get answers about the shooting. However, police reps refused to meet with them and the protests turned violent.

However, as the riots subside, Nigerians in England and at home are counting their losses. Already, media reports say a Nigerian was killed in the riots. And this was just days after Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Dr Dalhatu Tafida, said there were no reason for Nigerians to fear following the on-going riots in Hackney and Peckham areas of London.

Yet, the Ghana-Nigeria friendly in Watford, England was cancelled as London was hit by four nights of rioting and looting, the worst in 25 years.

The UK police said it could not guarantee the safety of both players and fans as the riots continued to spread across the country. As the riots spread, President Goodluck Jonathan allegedly offered help to UK PM David Cameron. Jonathan was said to have promised to assist by sending Nigerian police to England to help quell the riots, to the chagrin of some Nigerians who think that he should stop the Boko Haram bombing in the country first.

Nigerians in the UK speaking on the riots said, “So many Blacks are away from their homelands, primarily because of present and past administrators/rulers/presidents. Black nations have never thought it wise to create conditions that will enable a majority of their citizens to find self-actualizing opportunities in their own countries. The acting out and destructive behaviour you see in the demonstrations is probably out of frustrations of not finding oneself in a foreign land and the prospects of achieving the same in the homeland is even more remote.”

The riots spread throughout London and beyond. But there arose racial dimension to the riots also as photos showed more of black people looting homes and shops. However, houses, cars, and businesses were burned and at least hundreds of people were arrested. Looters smashed their way into stores and stole merchandise, and groups attacked police.  Groups of young people who said they were fed up by the treatment they receive by police, allegedly drove the riots.

It was in the midst of this that a young Nigerian man chatting with a woman at a bus stop was shot dead when an argument erupted. Reports said Daniel Famakinwa, 20, was waiting with friends for a bus in West Norwood after a night out when a row broke out with another group of young men. He was shot just after 4.15 on Saturday morning. As other people fled, the woman Famakinwa had been talking to stayed with him to try and help.

However, she left when police arrived and is one of several people murder squad detectives are urging to come forward. The shooting took place in Waylett Place at the junction with Norwood Road. Famakinwa from Manor Park in east London was taken to King’s College Hospital where he died over an hour later.

Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode said: “We know Daniel had been out dancing that night with a group of friends and afterwards they were waiting for a bus. There was an altercation between Daniel’s group and another group of black men who were also waiting at the bus stop which has resulted in Daniel being killed.

”I would urge anyone who was in the area at the time, and who may have seen or heard anything suspicious, to come forward as you may hold significant information.

”We are specifically appealing for a white woman in a checked shirt who was also at the bus stop, and who had no connection to either group, to come forward. She understandably made off at the time but we need her to contact police – she may have vital information.

”We also want to trace a young black woman who was speaking to Daniel immediately prior to the shooting, and was present through the incident and stayed behind to help. However she left before police arrived and again we need to speak with her as a matter of urgency.

”I believe there were also a number of other black women at the bus stop who fled after the incident, and again we need them to come foreword and make themselves known.”

Not many Nigerians have heard about the Famakinwa death. In fact, as the riots raged, Nigerians were waiting to be blamed for the London crisis but were happy that they were not named. A report said, “As members of mandem and hoodgirls gangs and their parents lay waste to parts of North London over the weekend, Nigerian communities braced themselves to be blamed for the rioting and looting. But in an unexpected development, the London Metropolitan Police has not named Nigerians as the main suspects behind the wanton display of criminality. Baba Ijebu, a long time Tottenham resident, commented on the issue: “My son was afraid to go to work today because he thought the newspapers will be full of ‘Nigerians done it’ stories, but for once we are not to blame. We thank God!”

However, President Jonathan was alleged to have offered to assist UK PM David Cameron with policemen to quell the riots. David Cameron last Thursday told MPs the riots in cities across England were “criminality pure and simple”, but there were “far too few police” on the streets. More than 1,500 arrests have been made since the unrest began on Saturday.

Tottenham is the most ethnically diverse area in all of the U.K., where, according to the last British census, some 300 languages are spoken. Large communities of Colombians, Congolese, Albanian, Kurdish, Turkish-Cypriot, Turkish, Somalis, Irish and Portuguese all call Tottenham home. And given the area has the highest unemployment rates in the city – especially amongst the young — it’s not surprising that rival ethnic gangs have staked out complicated territories here and that youth mob vigilanteism is common.

So, it is perhaps unsurprising that Tottenham High Street became Ground Zero for the riots that have swept across London this week.