Nigerian tourist escapes lynching by Indian mob who fail to understand his accent

Nigerian tourist escapes lynching by Indian mob who fail to understand his accent

Posted by Sylvester on Friday, March 28, 2014 0

Sponsored Advertisement?

NIGERIAN tourist Clinton Osemwegi Igbinosun escaped being lynched to death in India recently after an irate mob attacked him after suspecting he was a terrorist or a member of the guerrilla group known as the Naxalites.

 
 Since the start of this year, there has been increased tension between the local Indian population and the migrant Nigerian community. In January, India deported five Nigerians as part of an ongoing clampdown that has seen as many as 22 people arrested for over-staying in the country and locked up in special immigration centres.  

Over the last two months, Indian authorities have stepped up the arrest of Nigerian illegal immigrants across the country and has been deporting them. This was in response to a breakdown in the relationship between the two communities following the murder of a Nigerian at Parra in northern Goa on October 30, after which local Nigerians staged several protests.

Following the demonstrations, the authorities responded to with a series of arrests and those found without papers are being deported. Things appear to be heating up again, however, as Mr Igbinosun who lost his way while visiting was chased and thrashed by a mob, sustaining serious injuries.

He was apparently robbed of lost all his clothing and fell into an open sewer  as he fled for his life through the lanes of the village of Allapalli, in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. Exhausted and beaten, he lay naked in a narrow lane when he was rescued by the local police after midnight.

Police verified his claims and plan to hand him over to the Foreign Registration Office after he has recovered from his injuries. Apparently, Mr Igbinosun, who is visiting India on a tourist visa was heading to Bangalore from Delhi by a train but got irritated by the poor services and amenities in the train and disembarked at Nagpur on Wednesday morning.

He then decided to travel by bus and asked for directions but the local people failed to understand his African accent and gave him wrong directions, directing him to a bus heading to Ballarshah. On learning that he reached a wrong destination, Mr Igbinosun decided to head back to Allahabad from where he had initially started his journey but again was misdirected and boarded a bus for Allapalli.

He reached Allapalli at around 10pm and instantly understood that he had again reached a wrong place. People turned suspicious upon seeing the  six-and-half feet Nigerian as he started looking for a hotel and descended upon him.

Police spokesman Aheri Bauche, said: “His English in African accent is very difficult to understand. Also, his tall demeanour and African looks made people suspicious about him.”

Apparently, as the crowd around him grew bigger, Mr Igbinosun got afraid and started fleeing. People got more suspicious and started chasing him and after running for hours, he managed to dodge the crowd taking refuge in a narrow lane between two houses.