Simon Guobadia is finally speaking out about his traumatic experience in ICE custody, calling it a “nightmare” that pushed him to his mental limits. The 61-year-old entrepreneur and former husband of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Porsha Williams was detained unexpectedly upon returning to the U.S. for a court appearance related to their divorce.
“About seven agents with ICE came on board the plane to escort me off,” Guobadia recalled to Us Weekly, adding that his laptops and phones were seized for a forensic search. “So I had everything on me, literally a mobile office.”
Guobadia, who was deported to Nigeria, said his time behind bars was deeply isolating.
“I understood why people would kill themselves, but I’m too strong to do that,” he admitted. He spent much of his detention in solitary confinement, locked in a cell for 23 hours a day.
Due to his public profile, Guobadia was placed in protective custody and later moved into the general population, where he found the conditions overcrowded and unsanitary.
“There was no coffee, no purified water, and no real meat,” he said. “Every meal came with beans.”
Even basic communication with his loved ones was delayed.
“It could take days before you’re able to reach your family,” he noted.
Despite falling ill with the flu while detained, Guobadia said the ordeal proved his resilience.
“It made me realize that I’m a pretty tough cookie,” the entrepreneur added.
Now free, he’s heading to Dubai to recover and seemingly plan his next moves. This comes as Williams was recently awarded $40,000 a month in spousal support. However, with Guobadia now overseas, it’s unclear how Williams will collect her funds.
