Nigerians not safe in India, FG tells India

Nigeria told India, yesterday, that it fears for the
safety of its nationals in the resort state of Goa after
one of its citizens was slain and a local legislator
compared Nigerians to "cancer."
Tensions have been rising in the tiny, palm-fringed
state since a Nigerian man was stabbed to death last
week in a murder that police blamed on rivalry
between local and Nigerian drug traffickers.
Nigeria's High Commission called the death a "cold-
blooded" killing.
Local media reports said the Nigerian was hacked to
death by a group of Goan drug traffickers, while five
other Nigerians suffered stab wounds.
Goan police arrested 53 Nigerians last week after
around 200 of them staged a protest against the
killing, chasing a police hearse carrying the corpse of
the dead Nigerian and putting the body on the road.
Following the demonstration, which blocked Goa's
main highway for several hours, Goa's chief minister
Manohar Parrikar asked police to track down
Nigerians living illegally in the former Portugese
colony so that they could be deported.
After the protest, a minister in the state's Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government,
Dayanand Mandrekar, stirred more controversy by
saying: "Nigerians are like cancer".
Nigeria's High Commission issued a diplomatic note
and demanded on Tuesday that the security of its
nationals be assured. It also called for the immediate
arrest of those who killed its citizen.
"We have lost one of our nationals in a cold-blooded
murder," Nigerian High Commission press
spokesman Tokunbo Falohun told the Press Trust of
India.
"The guilty should be immediately apprehended and
brought to justice and they should also compensate
the family of the victim," the envoy said.
The previous day, another High Commission official
warned of repercussions against Indians living in
Nigeria if Goa did not stop "evicting Nigerians" from
the state and failed to arrest the killers.
Asked if there will be any "repercussions" from the
murder, Falohun said Tuesday there would be none if
the matter was "justifiably" dealt with by Indian
authorities.
"There is a large Indian community working in
Nigeria. There are two temples in Lagos and all
Indians have freedom to worship and for their other
activities. We also are demanding the same,"
Falohun said.
Meanwhile, India's foreign ministry spokesman Syed
Akbaruddin said in New Delhi that he was sure that
the row could be settled "amicably".
"We have been assured that the investigation (into
the murder) is underway," he said.
Goa's chief minister said Monday state police were
close to arresting those responsible for the Nigerian's
death.
Goa has been seeking to restore its image after a
string of crimes. Legislators have said the state is in
the grips of a drug war. www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/nigerians-safe-india-fg-tells-india/