A Sudanese youth worker (pictured is Nelly Yoa) has called for Victoria police to ‘stop being politically correct’ and admit African gangs are an issue in Melbourne before someone gets killed
A Sudanese youth worker has called for police to ‘stop being politically correct’ and admit African gangs are an issue in Melbourne before someone gets killed.
Nelly Yoa hit out at authorities on Tuesday following claims from Victoria Police’s Superintendent Therese Fitzgerald that the community is not plagued by an ethnically-related gang problem, just an issue with ‘youth crime in general.’
Mr Yoa, who fled war-torn South Sudan in 2003 for Australia, told 3AW he was left ‘furious and in disbelief’ after hearing Superintendent Fitzgerald’s comments.
‘I do believe gangs exist,’ the 28-year-old told the radio show.
‘I urge the authorities to act swiftly and take leadership and direction and please get on with the job.’
‘For Christ’s sake, someone’s going to get killed.’
Mr Yoa said there are obvious problems within the Sudanese community and ‘trying to cover it up won’t benefit anyone.’
Nelly Yoa hit out at authorities on Tuesday following claims from Victoria Police’s Superintendent Therese Fitzgerald that the community is not plagued by an ethnically-related gang problem, just an issue with ‘youth crime in general’ (pictured is the assault of a police officer on Boxing Day)
‘It will just get worse and worse and at the end of the day it will come back to bite us.’
The 28-year-old also shared his thoughts in an aggressive opinion piece for The Age on Tuesday.
‘Melburnians are sick and tired of excuses. We’ve got to make sure people are held accountable,’ he said.
‘It is a fact that South Sudanese are over represented in crime statistics and are causing great harm and fear across communities in Melbourne.’
After being tormented by the Apex gang for a number of years, the city has in recent times also faced the rise of the so-called ‘Menace to Society’ gang.
MTS trashed an Airbnb property in Werribee with an out-of-control party in December.
After being tormented by the Apex gang (pictured) for a number of years, the city has in recent times also faced the rise of the so-called ‘Menace to Society’ gang
Nelly Yoa (pictured), a professional athlete who trialled for leading English soccer teams before becoming a youth worker, was hacked with a machete as a brawl broke out at a Sudanese beauty pageant in 2011
A community centre at Tarneit (pictured) in western Melbourne has become a haven for gang violence and vandalism
Police were forced to retreat from the house when more than 100 youths of primarily South Sudanese appearance pelted them with rocks.
Photos taken from inside the house show walls kicked and punched in, mattresses thrown on top of furniture and pepper spray splattered across bedroom curtains.
About 40 youths then terrorised the neighbourhood by roaming the streets smashing car windscreens and throwing rocks.
On Boxing Day, a policeman was kicked in the face by gang members as he crouched down trying to arrest a 16-year-old boy for shoplifting.
The senior constable sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to hospital as the youth who assaulted him remained at large.
An internal police memo warned officers that African gangs could try to lure them into laneway ambushes by running away from crimes to make them pursue.
The 28-year-old (pictured) also shared his thoughts in an aggressive opinion piece for The Age on Tuesday
Having fled war-torn South Sudan in 2003 for a better life, Mr Yoa said the actions of these gangs made him ‘ashamed’ to call himself Sudanese
Mr Yoa, who currently plays for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League, has been on the receiving end of gang violence himself.
In 2011, the then 21-year-old was hacked with a machete as a brawl broke out at a Sudanese beauty pageant.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has blamed the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews for the African gangs running rampant across the city.
‘We are very concerned at the growing gang violence and lawlessness in Victoria, in particular in Melbourne,’ he told reporters at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Monday.
‘This is a failure of the Andrews Labor government.’
The scene inside the trashed AirBnB house at Werribee in Melbourne’s western suburbs