Reps Raise Concern Over Incessant Killing of Nigerian Students Abroad :
The House of Representatives on Wednesday raised concerns over the growing number of Nigerian students killed abroad.
Following a motion by the Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the House asked the committee to conduct a public hearing on the issue.
In her motion, Dabiri-Erewa listed Ghana, Russia, United Arab Emirate, Malaysia and South Africa among the culprit nations where Nigerian students had been killed lately.
One of her prayers adopted by the House was that Nigerian embassies in those countries should investigate the cases to a “logical end.”
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She recalled that in Ghana alone, four Nigerian students had been killed since October 2013.
“Just two weeks ago, Mr. Godwin Ayogu, a 300 level Social Science Student of the University of Cape Coast, Central Region, was brutally killed on February 20 and his lifeless body was found on campus,” she informed the House.
She added that similar killing of Nigerians had taken place in South Africa, Russia, Maylasia and the UAE.
“A few weeks ago in Dubai, Toba Falode, 19-year-old son of a popular sports broadcaster, Aisha Falode, died in mysterious circumstances.
“He was a student of the SAE Institute, Dubai,” she said.
A member from Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Mike Akpan -Umor, suggested that Nigeria should take the matter as far as the United Nation, African Union and ECOWAS fora for deliberations.
“The killing of Nigerians is becoming too much and we cannot allow it to go on anymore,” he said.
However, some members blamed the problem on the level of impunity, indiscipline and lack of respect for human lives in Nigeria.
“How we are treated abroad is a mirror of how we are treated at home.
“There is so much impunity in Nigeria and we want to export this attitude to other countries.
“Let us respect our lives back home; you don’t get what you cannot give,” another lawmaker from Rivers State, Mr. Asita Honourable, said.
Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta from Abia State, advised Nigerians to obey the laws of other countries whenever they travelled out.
“Nigerians love cutting corners; this is beginning to affect us seriously when we go out,” he said.
The motion was later passed in a majority voice vote.
