Nigeria Summons Indian Ambassador

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olushola Enikanolaiye, has charged the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amb. Nagabushana Reddy to ensure the immediate arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the attack on Nigerian students in an Indian university.

The attack followed the death of a teenage boy who allegedly died from drug overdose.

The attacking Indian mob in Utta Pradesh alleged that Nigerians masterminded the death of the boy and some residents claimed that the African population in that area “has become a menace.”

Enikanolaiye, who invited the High Commissioner to register Nigeria’s concern over the incident said the call for the prosecution of culprits was necessary to serve as a deterrent to others and to forestall future occurrences.

He said “It is therefore, a concern to us that Nigerian students in that place were harassed, beaten up and many of them were seriously injured.

“We think this should not have happened considering the excellent relationship between two of us — the two countries have things in common and have been great friends.

“This is not the first time this would happen; Nigerians have suffered similar attack in the past; so, what we will like to see on this occasion is that the perpetrator should be arrested.

“And we want to see diligent prosecution so that it would serve as a deterrent to those who think they can take laws into their hands and harass students who are going about their studies.

“That is why we felt we should register our concern to you on this occasion, and to please ask your government to take effective measures that this does not occur again.”

The Indian representative condemned the incident and said the Indian Minister of External Affairs had already issued a statement condemning the incident.

The envoy said that five of the seven accused persons have been arrested while security operatives were on the trail of the remaining two.