Onoje is a naturalised Moldovan citizen with a Sierra-Leonean background; he came to Moldova from Sierra Leone in 1999, to escape the civil war in his home country. Just in 2001, the UN Refugee Agency granted him the statute of refugee. While fighting to become a fully-fledged Moldovan, Onoje learnt the language and became a well-known face at the Chișinău open market, where he sells newspapers. After living as a refugee for over a decade, he was granted Moldovan citizenship on 17 January 2011.