Amaka Sonnberger, the 46-year-old Igbo woman arrested in Canada for allegedly making hate-motivated threats against Yoruba and Benin people, has broken her silence.
The 46-year-old, originally from Anambra State, reportedly threatened to poison Yoruba and Benin co-workers at her workplace, which has led to outrage within both the Nigerian and Canadian communities and led to her arrest by the Toronto Police on September 1, 2024.
“Put poison for una water, make una dey kpai (die) one by one. Una no go kpai one day o, una go sick, sick, sick. I go put otapiapia (insecticide) for inside una water and food. Una no go see better. This kind hate wey una get for una so, e go last forever,” Sonnberger dared her listeners.
“If I go work tomorrow, I go put am (rodenticides) for Yoruba people food. Go tell the government, oya e dey Canada, e dey Ontario. Hurry up, fast fast!”
However, Sonnberger explained in an audio interview that her threats were in response to hateful comments made about Igbos on her ‘For You Page’ TikTok recommendations.
The Igbo woman claimed that she was subjected to repeated hate-filled comments targeting her ethnic group when she joined the platform months ago, including claims that they ate humans and stole money during the civil war.
Sonnberger said that her TikTok For You Page (FYP), was consistently filled with anti-Igbo sentiments, particularly from users of Yoruba and Benin descent.
“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,” Sonnberger said.
“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.”
The most inflammatory comments, Sonnberger revealed, came from a user named Kingsley, a Nigerian of Edo descent based in Austria. Kingsley could be heard cursing Igbos, referring to them as “biafrauds,” and threatens to bury them in River Niger.
Kingsley, in an audio recording from a TikTok livestream, was heard saying, “You have to receive my curse. Are you listening to me? You and all your Igbo generation, the biafrauds you shall perish.
“You shall all die, yes, you shall die. That River Niger, we shall bury you in it. If you start that your protest, you people will see what will happen. You people will die and nothing will happen.”
A female voice speaking in Yoruba joined the conversation and praised the actions of street hoodlums in Lagos who attacked the Igbo, whom she claimed insulted them.
“You already gave me the name ndi ofe mmanu (people of oily soups) and I accepted it, but be thankful that (Babatunde) Fashola is no more the governor, otherwise, what he would show you, you won’t be able to bear it,” the lady said.
Sonnberger, if convicted under Section 319 (1a) of the Canadian Criminal Code, could face up to two years in prison for public incitement of hatred.
Canadian law states that anyone who communicates statements that incite hatred against an identifiable group, where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of peace, can be charged with a criminal offence.
The section reads, “Everyone who, by communicating statements in any public place, incites hatred against any identifiable group where such incitement is likely to lead to a breach of the peace is guilty of (a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.”
