Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Africans

kseeker

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Re: Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Afric

Diplomatic row erupts over Nigerian's death in Goa - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Faced with what was seen as veiled threat to Indians in Nigeria, the Centre on Tuesday leaned on the Goa government to submit a fresh report shortly on the death of a Nigerian national in the sunshine state that has sparked a diplomatic incident.

The Centre approached the state government for taking a fresh look at the Nigerian's death in the wake of a threat purportedly issued by a Nigerian diplomat that Indians in his country could be targeted if those allegedly responsible for the killing of his compatriot were not arrested and the Goa Police's campaign to evict the Nigerians unlawfully staying in the state did not stop.

"There are only 50,000 Nigerians living in India but there are over a million Indians living in Nigeria. Thousands of Indians living there will be thrown out on the streets if the forcible eviction of Nigerians in Goa does not stop," agencies quoted Nigeria's consular attache Jacob Nwadadia saying on Monday.

Significantly, the spokesperson of Nigerian high commission Tokunbo Falohun also emphasized the presence of Indians in Nigeria as he protested against Goa Police's handling of the death of his compatriot last week at Mapusa near Panaji.

"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," agencies quoted Falohun, saying on Tuesday.

Nigeria also wrote a note verbale (diplomatic letter) to the MEA protesting against the death of one of its nationals in a violent incident in Goa, demanding that five persons, whom they identified as culprits, be arrested by the authorities.

The death has been linked to a feud between two gangs engaged in drug trafficking.

MEA's official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said on Tuesday, "MEA has assured Nigeria that we have excellent bilateral relations and that the issue will be settled in a cooperative manner in line with our friendly ties."

Senior MEA officials spoke to Nigerian high commissioner. In Abuja, the acting Indian high commissioner spoke to the Nigerian foreign office to update them on the situation.

"We have lost one of our nationals in a cold-blooded murder. We have raised the issue with India and written a note verbale on Friday to convey our concerns over the security of our nationals," said Falohun.

"The guilty should be immediately apprehended and brought to justice. And they should also compensate the family of the victim," he told news agencies.

A Nigerian national was found dead with stab wounds at Mapusa near Panaji last week, triggering protests from around 200 Nigerians who blocked a road. Local reports said the murder was fallout of inter-gang rivalry among drug gangs.

This led Goa CM Manmohan Parrikar to apparently order the police to locate foreign nationals, including Nigerians who were staying on without proper documentation.
 

rugved

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Re: Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Afric

There is no exaggeration in saying that Nigerians, Tanzanians and other African nationals are the most involved in drug smuggling rings in Goa and in prostitution rackets, cyber frauds in other parts of the country. I for know existing drug smuggling rackets in a place called Mira Road in Thane (district on the outskirts of Mumbai) which is populated with African nationals.
 

happy

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Re: Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Afric

Goa murder: One arrested; can Nigeria dare India on crackdown?

Reacting to the statement by the diplomat, Falohun (Tokunbo Falohun, Minister-Press in the Nigerian High Commission) said if the matter was "justifiably" dealt with, then there will not be any repercussion. "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," he said.

On the other hand, New Delhi appears keen to solve the matter amiably and has assured Abuja that all issues will be addressed in a cooperative manner.

MEA's official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, "MEA has assured Nigeria that we have excellent bilateral relations and that the issue will be settled in a cooperative manner in line with our friendly ties."

The Centre is also keen that the Goa government does its bit to ensure that the issue is resolved. As per reports, the Centre has requested the state government to submit a fresh report on the alleged murder of the Nigerian national.

However, the Goa government appears to be in no mood to relent and is going ahead with what it perceives as just action. It has a case when it says that Nigerians or for that matter any foreign national should posses valid documents to stay in Goa.

Party MLA from Calangute Michael Lobo said that those who foreign nationals who take admission in colleges in Delhi and staying in Goa for 11 months of the year should be probed.
 

JBH22

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Re: Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Afric

India has become a joke on the world stage, bloody hell even Maldives shows us the middle finger these days.
 

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Re: Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Afric

Nigerian envoy sent offensive SMSes to cop: Manohar Parrikar

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today accused a Nigerian diplomat of sending "offensive SMSes" to a senior police officer over the controversy relating to the killing of a Nigerian national whose death had sparked protests by his compatriots here. "He (the diplomat) was wrongly briefed who went to the extent of sending offensive SMSes to our Superintendent of Police," Parrikar told reporters at Vasco town, without naming the diplomat.

A Nigerian diplomat, who was recently in Goa, had reportedly warned of "repercussions" against Indians living in Nigeria if his fellow countrymen were harassed in Goa.

Parrikar said the diplomat who arrived in Goa, had not come through a proper channel. "As a foreign diplomat, he should have come through the Ministry of External Affairs. I never got any communication that anyone is coming," the chief minister said.

He said the "misunderstanding" between Nigeria and India is a fallout of wrong media reporting. "I never said that Nigerians would be deported, but what I had said was that illegally staying foreigners including Nigerians would be deported," Parrikar said.

Nigeria had earlier issued a note verbale to India conveying concerns over the security of its nationals and demanded immediate arrest of those who killed a Nigerian in Goa last week, prompting the government to assure it that all issues will be addressed in a cooperative manner.

The Centre yesterday said it was in "diplomatic dialogue" with Nigeria after that country raised the killing of one of its nationals in Goa and noted that it was expecting a report from the state government in the matter. The state police had also arrested a Goan youth in connection with the killing of the Nigerian national on October 31 which sparked protests by his fellowmen.

The special investigation squad arrested Surendra Pal on Tuesday night in connection with the killing of Obodo Uzoma Simeon from Chapora, a beachside village in north Goa.

Parrikar had earlier claimed the murder as a drug-related crime.

Nigerian envoy sent offensive SMSes to cop: Manohar Parrikar - India - DNA
 

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Re: Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Afric

Goa towns pass order to evict, stop renting to Nigerian tenants

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/world/goa-...n-tenants-1215529.html?utm_source=ref_article
Panaji: A week after a Nigerian's murder here sparked off unrest and triggered a diplomatic tussle between the African nation and India, police in Goa Wednesday arrested one local as a murder suspect. However, a backlash against the Nigerian community in the state continues. Police Wednesday arrested Surendra Pol from Chapora, a village 30 km from the state capital, and a notorious hub of narcotics activity. Police said others alleged to be involved in the murder of Obodo Uzoma Simon, who was stabbed to death in a north Goa village last Wednesday, also hail from this village. Pol was remanded in police custody for 10 days. Screengrab of arrest of Nigerians in Goa. Image courtesy IBNLive Meanwhile, late Tuesday, the village of Parra, a popular residential hub for Nigerians in north Goa, passed a resolution at a specially convened meeting of panchayat banning the renting of rooms and houses to Nigerians on a student visa. Sarpanch of the village Delilah Lobo said the decision was taken after it was found that most Nigerians "faked students visas" to stay in Goa and peddle drugs. "We had to stop this to save our village. The chief minister himself says that many Nigerians are living here on fake papers. That is why we wanted to pass the resolution," said Lobo, wife of BJP MLA Michael Lobo. Sioliom-Sodiem, a coastal village, has already passed a resolution demanding that Nigerians staying on rent within the village's jurisdiction should be asked to leave. This backlash is already beginning to tell on young Nigerians like Chioma Ghonsali. Ghonsali, 24, was asked to leave her home in Anjuna by her landlord, who claimed that the police wanted all Nigerians evicted. "We are all God's children. Why are we being treated like this?" she asks. The Goa government has already ordered a crackdown on all foreigners living in this tourism hub after a bitter clash between a mob of over 200 Nigerians on one side and police and locals on the other. The Nigerians, who were protesting the murder of one of the compatriots, last Thursday blocked National Highway 17 for several hours, demanding the presence of Nigerian consular officials for the autopsy proceedings. During the clashes, the Nigerians not only smashed a police hearse, but also dumped the corpse in the middle of the road blocking all traffic. They later snatched lathis from intimidated policemen who were mute spectators and began to threaten local people as well as policemen themselves for a couple of hours. Over 50 Nigerians were arrested following the violence. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar later claimed that the murder was a result of a war between two narcotics gangs. The Nigerians said that their fellow national was murdered by the local drug mafia which had the sympathies of the ruling dispensation. Parrikar has also said that all Nigerians with fake papers would be deported soon. "Cases against those Nigerians who have minor charges, will be dropped so that they too could be deported," Parrikar said, adding that getting involved in petty crimes was one of the strategies used by Nigerian drug dealers to prolong their stay in India. The action against Nigerians has also resulted in several ruling legislators referring to them as "wild animals" and even equating them with "cancer". Specific targeting of Nigerians has caused uproar in the diplomatic circles with the Nigerian High Commission in India claiming that the treatment was demeaning, and demanding an urgent stop to the harassment of their nationals. "There are 50,000 Nigerians in India, but there are one million Indians in Nigeria," Nigerian diplomat Jacob Nwadadia said after speaking to police, bureaucrats and members of the Nigerian community in Goa Monday. Police suggest that the crackdown on Nigerians would tweak the narcotics industry in Goa, with one of the major drug mafias run by the Nigerians now on the backfoot. "The local drug mafia which appears to have engineered the murder now has an upper hand. The Nigerian gang will not have time to consolidate their position before the tourist season hits its peak and drugs sales hit the peak," a senior police official, formerly attached to Goa Police's anti-narcotics cell, said.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/world/goa-...n-tenants-1215529.html?utm_source=ref_article
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kseeker

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Re: Nigeria likely to throw out Indians after Goa's crackdown on Afric

BBC News - Why are Nigerians leaving India's Goa state

Anti-Nigerian sentiment has come to the fore in the Indian state of Goa since 31 October when a group of Nigerians took part in a protest after one of their countrymen was murdered writes Pamela D'Mello.

Three Nigerian men are milling around on a balcony of an apartment building on the edge of garbage-strewn fields in India's tourist getaway of Goa.

Today, they are the only West African tenants left in the building. The others have joined an exodus from the state to the western cities of Pune and Mumbai. As in Goa, there too police have begun a verification processes against African nationals.

These three men - as the building's owner Jerry says - all have legal documents.

Goa has long been known for its sun soaked beaches, clubs and party zones that draw Russian and other European tourists as well as holidaying Indians.

The villages of Parra and Siolim in north Goa - just adjacent to more crowded beach villages on the coast such as Baga, Calangute and Anjuna - are where the largest community of West Africans live.

But now the panchayats (local village councils) have resolved that villagers stop renting rooms to Nigerians.

A local bike rental association has also stopped renting to Nigerians in "protest" against last month's blockade of the highway by some 60 West Africans, mostly Nigerians, and their alleged "high-handedness with the police".

"I've got nothing against them, and you can't have a blanket ban. But they really are a nuisance, because some of them are in the drug trade," said a local businessman in Parra who did not want to be named.

Jose Pacheco, a young man in the village, says: "One of the Nigerians was harassing my sister, who noted down his bike number and we had to trace it down and warn him. When there's a bike accident, even before we can call our friends to the scene, they are there in larger number. Being physically bigger, they tend to intimidate us."

Nigerian officials say such attitudes amount to little more than discrimination.

'Injustice'
There are about 40,000 Nigerians living in India, and a large number of them are to be found in Goa.

In India on a business visa for over a year, Joe Prince, who hails from Anambra in south-eastern Nigeria, tells the BBC that he exports apparel from the southern Indian town of Tirupur - a major textile and knitwear hub - to Nigeria, but spends much of his time in Goa.

In Goa, police have been to his apartment but left when they found his documents in order.

Mr Prince is unhappy that he can no longer rent a bike: "I don't have a bike to rent, so I cannot go anywhere. If the local council pressures him, my landlord says we will also have to leave".


Some 60 West Africans, mostly Nigerians, blocked a crucial highway in Goa after the murder

The Africans are not without local support though.

"I opposed the village council resolution to stop renting to Nigerians. It's an injustice. They are my brothers in Christ and I will support them," says businessman and evangelist Paul Fernandes, a Goan whose religious services until recently drew some 35 West Africans.

Parra, like most quiet villages in Goa - a former Portuguese colony for 451 years - also faces pressures from internal migration from within India and its residents often tend to dislike all "outsiders".

"Most of us are indoors by eight in the evening, when the Nigerians and all others working the nightlife scene leave their residences. So we see little of them and interaction is minimal, except at shops and gyms they frequent," said a local youth.

Recently, before the events of 31 October, villagers were unwilling to let the West Africans use a local football field and there have been occasional arguments over local women.

Uneasy relationship
A Goan widow's marriage to a Nigerian national has made the bar and restaurant they run in the village a regular meeting club.

In the seaside Anjuna village religion has been an icebreaker. West Africans stand out at the morning mass in the local church.


Nigerians allege there is discrimination against them

The police say that a group of Nigerians are involved in sourcing cocaine and heroin from Latin America for local distribution. The killing in the early hours of 31 October is being linked here to a turf war with local drug pushers.

All the accusations have drawn diplomatic censure from the Nigerian embassy in Delhi.

Nigeria's high commissioner in India Ndubuisi Vitus Amaku told the BBC the community is feeling "aggrieved" after the murder of its citizen in Goa, and that the state's subsequent order to deport Nigerians living illegally there was like "rubbing salt on their wounds".

The nightclub and party zones of Calangute and Arpora, where the seamy and the fashionable merge has also become off-limits to West Africans.

"We are simply not allowed to enter the Tito's lane (a night-clubbing hub) and other major clubs for the past eight months after a major incident where we were beaten up by bouncers and the police," says Mr Prince.

"There was an incident with one Nigerian and all of us who were not even involved were targeted. If we cannot go to the clubs, what are we to do?"

He says a friend of his was stopped from entering a club while his two Russian women friends were let in. "Is that not racial discrimination?" he asks.

The manager of a well-known nightclub in Calangute justifies the ban: "There's an informal ban on them in the main club, because we don't want pushers inside the club. They sell drugs openly on the streets and we can't stop that, because we don't own the street - that's a police matter."

Nigeria's high commissioner Mr Amaku, says Indians need to exercise caution.

"Indians need to understand that a large number of Nigerians are living legally in India and even if some are living illegally, there are laws in place to deal with that and those should be implemented," he says.
 

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