A Canadian-Nigerian woman Amaka Sonnberger, who was arrested for making hate-motivated threats against the Nigerian community, has explained the reason for her action.
Sonnberger was arrested by the Toronto Police on September 1 following petitions against her.
The 46-year-old threatened during a TikTok live session on August 25 to poison Yoruba and Edo people in Canada, accusing them of not being smart.
She said she wanted the Igbo people in Canada to “wake up” and become “wicked,” adding that they have been too “cool”. In another video, she boasted she could not be deported because she had Canadian passport.
Sonnberger was released from custody after being questioned.
In an audio interview posted on YouTube by BattaBox on September 5, Sonnberger, while opting not to show her face for security reasons, explained that her threats were a reaction to hateful comments directed at Igbos on TikTok, reports PUNCH.
She explained that when she joined TikTok a few months ago, she was bombarded with anti-Igbo rhetoric on her ‘For You Page’ recommendations.
She added, “Every FYP I saw was always people talking about Igbos and these were the Bini and Yoruba to be particular. They said so many things and I have these things on video.
“They talk about how (Chukwuemeka) Ojukwu stole £5,000 from the bank during the (civil) war. So I joined these platforms and found out that the majority of these people there aren’t educated because as I’m going right, they are going left.
“Sometimes, I tried to debunk some of what they were saying. There was a time when they even said Igbos eat humans. They changed our history totally. There was a time I had to come back home and begin to search about my history because they say things that if you are not strong, will make you depressed.”
Sonnberger revealed that the most inflammatory comments she encountered on TikTok were attributed to one Kingsley, a Nigerian of Edo descent based in Austria.
