I don’t feel safe in USA — Onuoha

By Daily Sports on June 3, 2020

Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha says he does not feel “100% safe” in the USA.

Onuoha plays for Utah-based Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer after spending six years at QPR.

“I am always very wary of how I behave and how it could be viewed by people who have power,” Onuoha, 33, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“For me personally, overall I don’t like to say it but I have a fear and distrust towards police.”

Widespread protests have taken place across 75 US cities since George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after being pinned down by a white police officer.

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd’s neck, has been charged with his murder. He and three other police officers have been sacked.

Sports stars have added their voices on social media with a ‘blackout’ – uploading a black image alongside a message of support.

Onuoha backed the protestors by saying: “It is emotional; it is something that is overdue to be honest. There has been a big wave of energy towards this, there has been a lot of talk about George Floyd – these issues have been around for decades.

“People have been trying to make noise. I have been trying to say things but it gets pushed away for too long. Enough is enough; what gives me strength is that it's not just black people who are protesting now.

“The change will come but within that, there are so many nuanced things within the protest – for example, a lot of black people are scared to do what some of the white people are doing to the police.

“It’s crazy to see but it is very necessary. I am not going to say to them that they shouldn't do anything because they haven’t been heard for this long so let them be heard now.”

President Donald Trump has threatened to send in the military to quell growing civil unrest in the US, as dozens of people have been injured with authorities using tear gas and force to disperse protests.

Four officers were shot and injured on Monday night during unrest in St Louis, Missouri.

Onuoha added that the gun laws in the USA added to his sense of unease.

He said: “I have loved living in this country but there is [another] side of it.

“In the UK, I am more comfortable because if something happens it probably will not be deadly – but over here because of their rights it is more common that altercations become deadly. I am always very aware of that whenever I go around anywhere.

“I am comfortable but when it comes to any kind of brutality, if it’s from the police, if they read me the wrong way then my life could be taken. I feel that every single day. It is not just me but everybody else as well.

“I am not trying to be overly critical to the police, there are plenty of good police officers out there, but sometimes I feel like people put police on a pedestal and make them seem superhuman.

“But the fact is over here they are just people from society with a badge and a gun and a lot more power.

“If you worry about the man next door, why would you not worry about the person patrolling the streets who now has more power, more guns but the same views?

“I never go out and feel 100% safe.”

•PHOTO: Onuoha

Source Daily Sports

Posted June 3, 2020


 

You may also like...
Lyon Weather Lens Storm To Go Fifth In...

Coaching: Samuel Eto'o eyes Inter Milan

Quadri, Abiodun progress to the ETTU Champions League...

Davis Cup: Novak Djokovic Gives Serbia Over Austria...

Former Super Eagles captain, John Obi Mikel says...

I won’t underrate Ngannou – Joshua

 

Latest News CAF awards: Ajibade, Nnadozie, Edo Queens bag nominations Lagos SWAN, PAACC Hold SWAN Day At Golfview Hotels, Ikeja Crisis looms as Eagles’ form raises AFCON, W’Cup concerns Ex-Nigerian Super Falcons player handcuffed, children assaulted as police storm Anambra Football Academy Sports NFF, teammates console Nwabali on father’s death Abia Govt hails Nigeria Olympic Committee over staging an admin course in Umuahia Libya deliver Eagles 2025 AFCON ticket Eagles battle Cheetahs for 2025 AFCON ticket Yellow Greens gear up for T20 W’Cup qualifiers Tyson tips Fury to beat Joshua Sadiq absent as 22 Eagles train in Abidjan Eagles’ striking trio hot for Cheetahs, Amavubi clashes

 

Most Read Rangers International going, going . . . (55,164 views) Amaju Pinnick: A cat with nine lives (46,307 views) Second Term: Amaju Pinnick, Other NFF Heavyweights Home to Roost •How Pinnick Broke the Jinx (44,370 views) Missing $150,000 IAAF Grant: Solomon Dalung’s Hide and Seek game (44,015 views) Sports Development: Zenith Bank on the zenith (43,948 views) Current issues in Nigerian sports: Matters arising (43,904 views) Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s solid footprints, commitment to sports development in Kano State (43,742 views) NFF Presidency: Pinnick, Maigari, Ogunjobi, Okoye in Battle for Supremacy (43,311 views) Olopade, BET9A wave of revolution in NNL (42,366 views) Commonwealth Games 2018: Shame of Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung (41,054 views) Ibrahimovic’s Man U exit: Whose decision is it? And in whose interest? (39,507 views) John Mikel Obi: Segun Odegbami’s Outrageous Call! (38,931 views)

 

Phone numbers

Tel: +234(0)8066020976
+234(0)8055068145
+234(0)7013416146
+234(0)8094272884

Email addresses

info@dailysportsng.com
support@dailysportsng.com
publisher@dailysportsng.com

Office address

No 3, Adetoun Close, Off College Road, Ogba, Ikeja Lagos.
Website: www.dailysportsng.com

Social Media