Racism in Italy has claimed the life of a Nigerian asylum seeker. Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, 36, was beaten to death in Fermo, a small town in northern Italy, after he stepped in to defend his wife from racist attack by a right-wing football fan.
Mr Namdi and his wife Chinyery, 24, came to Italy last year after escaping an attack by the Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram, at a church in Nigeria. During that attach each one of them lost their parents.
Last Tuesday night Mr Namdi was walking with his wife on Via Veneto in Fermo when they suffered racial abuse. The ultra-football fan called Chinyery a “monkey”.
When Mr Namdi responded to the abuse, he was brutally beaten on the head reportedly with a road-sign pole, until he fell to the ground. He was left in an irreversible coma and died on Wednesday.
Italian authorities have today arrested Amedeo Mancini, 38, on suspicion of Mr Namdi’s murder.
The Nigerian asylum-seeker’s racist murder has been strongly condemned by Italian leaders and ordinary citizens.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi took to Twitter to say the government stood with the town in Mr Namdi’s memory and condemned “hatred, racism and violence”.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano travelled to the town to attend a public security committee meeting there.
Ordinary Italians have been sending messages of condolences to Mr Namdi’s family.