Nigerians in India warned to stay indoors as mob attacks on Nigerian students increase.
Two days after a 16-year-old boy died of a suspected drug overdose, three citizens of Nigeria were assaulted in India’s Uttar Pradesh state on Monday evening during a candlelight protest organised to demand the arrest of the accused.
According to police, deceased Manish Khatri, a student of Class XII, had gone missing last Friday and was found in an intoxicated state near his house the next day. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died during treatment.
Local residents claimed the boy was seen spending time with some Nigerian students.
Later, Khatri’s family lodged a complaint with police against six Nigerian nationals accusing them of drugging him.
On Monday his family, along with other locals, conducted a candlelight march from their residence in Greater Noida to the famous Pari Chowk demanding arrest of the Nigerians.
Earlier on Monday, police picked up five Nigerians and confiscated their passports, but released them because of lack of evidence. The family was apparently not happy with the police action.
In the evening, thousands of protesters surrounded the offices of the Senior Superintendent of Police and the District Magistrate. In the mob attack, three Nigerians were left bleeding on the road.
“I never understood why they started beating me. We went to Pari Chowk to purchase some goods. As soon as we came out, we saw some people shouting at us, saying ‘stop him, stop him,’” Enduranca Amalawa, 21, an economics student at a local university, told media.
“I don’t even know what happened and I couldn’t do anything about it. I don’t want any action against anyone, I am just a student who is studying here. But they didn’t know me, why did they attack me?,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Association of African Students in India has issued an advisory to all Africans in Greater Noida to stay indoors.
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