The killing of an African street vendor in Italy has sparked a political row ahead of national elections next September and sparked a new debate about racism in the European country, the newspaper said.The New York Times“.
On Friday, Nigerian immigrant Lika Okorchokwu was beaten to death by an Italian rat on a main shopping street in Civitanova Marche, a coastal town on the Adriatic coast, and video of the attack was circulated thousands of times on social media.
According to the American newspaper, although the attack continued for four minutes, there were bystanders who did not intervene.
A Nigerian was hacked to death yesterday b4 in Italy…where is our ambassador to Italy and what is he doing?we haven’t seen his face on Italian television….the victim’s name is Alika. OGORCHUKWU pic.twitter.com/ZnqAzTgT6v
— Akpoka Odianosen Desmond (@AKPOKADESMOND) July 31, 2022
Patrick Kobadia, deputy secretary of an association representing Nigerians in Italy, said: “We condemn the fact and the behavior of people who stood and photographed a disabled person being killed with crutches. “This is a shame,” he added.
A decade ago, Ogorchogo moved to Italy to join his wife, Sarti Uracci, in the city of San Severino Marseille, an hour’s drive from the coast.
“Now that she’s alone, with a son, you can imagine how difficult it is,” said Francesco Mandella, a lawyer who helped the family and represented Urashi for eight years.
Ogurchoko, 39, was trying to sell goods when he was hit by a car while riding his bike last year, an accident that forced him to use crutches.
Speaking to the Italian channel “Sky News”, Urashi’s wife was stunned. “I’m in so much pain, I want justice,” he said.
Ferlazzo, a 32-year-old factory worker, was charged and is now being held on charges of murder and robbery; Because after the accident he took Okurchoko’s mobile phone.
Matteo Luconi, Macerata’s chief police investigator overseeing the case, said in a phone interview that an autopsy will determine the cause of death later this week.
Investigations have not shown any racial motives for the crime, he added. A police report said the “intent to kill” could be “frivolous reasons”.
The murder struck a chord as the Marches region, where Civitanova is located, has been the scene of brutal crimes against migrants. In February 2018, a right-wing Italian shot and wounded six African migrants in Maserata, about 27 kilometers from the Civitanova March, turning the city into a hotbed of intolerance.
Two years ago, a Nigerian man was murdered in Fermo, south of Civitanova, after trying to protect his wife from racial slurs.
