Attack on Africans: 5 held; Swaraj promises action
FAIR INVESTIGATION External affairs minister speaks to UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who assures fair and impartial probe
GREATER NOIDA/NEW DELHI: Five people were arrested in connection with Monday night’s attacks on African students in Greater Noida that sparked concern over their safety and prompted intervention by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who has promised immediate action.
While Swaraj spoke to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath after being approached by an African student, who pleaded for action describing the situation as “life threatening”, her ministry termed these attacks as “deplorable”.
“I have spoken to Adityanathji about (the) attack on African students in Greater Noida. He has assured that there will be a fair and impartial investigation into this unfortunate incident,” Swaraj tweeted. Four Nigerian students were attacked by a group of Greater Noida residents, who took out a candle-light march on Monday after a 17-year-old boy Manish died last week in the NSG Black Cats Enclave due to suspected drug overdose.
The protest march was taken out after the police released some Nigerians, detained for questioning in connection with death of Manish, a Class 12 student, due to “lack of evidence”.
Following the incident, Nigerian high commission officials went to meet the injured nationals and said they felt ‘unsafe”. A senior high commission official said the mission was in touch with the external affairs ministry on the issue.
MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the government is committed to ensuring safety and security of all foreigners in India and people from Africa, including students, remain “our valued” partners.
“The attack on Nigerians is a serious issue. Whatever needs to be done under the law and proper investigation shall be done,” UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said.