'Being Nigerian is not a crime,' say Nigerians in protest after death of compatriot in police custody

Nigerians living in Gauteng have declared their nationality “is not a crime” and demanded action against police who allegedly intimidate, torture and extort them.

Members of the Nigerian Citizens Association of South Africa (Nicasa), a group which aims to change the narrative about Nigerians living in South Africa, held up placards saying “Stop destroying our property”, “Being a Nigerian is not a crime” and “Torture is not constitutional” as they protested on Monday. 

The group gathered at Peter Roos Park in Parktown, Johannesburg, to march to the office of Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela to hand over a memorandum of demands against alleged ill-treatment by law enforcement officers.

Nicasa president Frank Onyekwelu said Nigerians also faced robberies and burglaries of their businesses, but they have had enough.

“We are taking a stand against that and saying it should not happen any more. We have written a memorandum to hand over to the commissioner to make sure our voices are heard.”

According to Nicasa, a Nigerian, Izowa Nat, died in police custody at the Johannesburg central police station.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) told TimesLIVE the incident happened on Saturday. 

“It is alleged the deceased went to a house in Alexandra of a granny to demand money. The allegation is the granny is a family [member] to the deceased. He allegedly stabbed the granny with a knife when she told him she did not have money. The community allegedly assaulted him with sjamboks and other objects,” said Ipid spokesperson Phaladu Shuping.

“The police came to rescue him, took him to Alexandra clinic and he was given medication and detained at Alexandra SAPS cells. The cell guard noticed he wasn't moving and called an ambulance and he was declared dead. The incident was reported to Ipid and the matter is under investigation.”

Nicasa believed the police were responsible for the man's death.

“We action [the police commissioner] to intervene, especially in the case of the Nigerian who died at the hands of and [in] custody of the police. The body is still in the mortuary and we don’t know yet what is going to happen. We want a speedy investigation,” said Onyekwelu. 

The association was assisting the family of the deceased in trying to open an inquest case with the police. 

He said besides police brutality, another challenge faced by Nigerians was the service by the home affairs department which delayed issuing travel permits to Nigerians. This led to more aggression by law enforcement.

“Many citizens have applied for permits but have not received them and that leads to harassment and extortion of money. When they get you on the road they tell you they want money and if you can’t give them [money] they beat you up. We are saying, enough of that.”

Nicasa called on the Nigerian government to liaise with South African authorities to speed up the processing of permits [and] for police brutality to end.

“We take a stand that being a Nigerian is not a crime but brutality is a crime. Injustice is a crime. We are saying we don’t want this to continue,” he said.

TimesLIVE