CLO demands justice as expatriate kills Nigerian in Enugu

Tension is building up in Enugu State over the alleged killing of a Nigerian, simply identified as Arinze by an expatriate, Abdul Lateef. DailyPost gathered that both Lateef and Arinze are working with the

Arab Construction Company in the State. It was gathered that they were working at the construction site of the new Workers’ Secretariat in Enugu when the incident occurred. A source told DailyPost in Enugu that “the incident happened around 11:30 am today, (Thursday). “The white man identified as Abdul Lateef, from one of the Arab speaking countries is a superior worker with the construction company.

“He and the deceased were on the 2nd floor of one of the buildings under construction, when they had disagreement on how a particular work should be done; the said white man for reasons best known to him pushed the deceased down”, the source disclosed. He added that there was uproar in the company yard as other workers wanted to lynch the expatriate but for the timely intervention of the police from the

state headquarters, who whisked him away to safety. DailyPost learnt that Arinze was later rushed to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead. Reacting to the development, the Civil Liberties Oraganization, CLO, in a statement signed the South-East coordinator, Olu Omotayo, said the suspect should be tried for murder. In the statement entitled, “UNLAWFUL PUSHING TO DEATH OF A NIGERIAN WORKING WITH ARAB CONTRACTOR CONSTRUCTION COMPANY BY AN EXPATRIATE SUPERVISOR OF THE COMPANY”, the CLO said Lateef’s action was unjustifiable.he statement read in parts: “The Civil Liberties Organisation South-East Zone condemns the pushing to death of a Nigerian simply identified as Arinze, working with Arab Contractors Construction Company at their construction site of the new Enugu State secretariat, in front of the State Police Headquarters, Enugu. “We thank the Police authority for their timely intervention. Wecondemn this barbaric act in all ramifications. “This is not the first time we are receiving complaints of torture and brutalization of Nigerians by foreign workers working with some of these construction companies. “One of such was the case of Miracle Willy a worker with Setraco Construction Company, who was brutalized by his superior, an Arabian at the company’s’ Mpu site. “The Arabman even went further to direct the security men attached to him to further torture Willy for allegedly stealing something at the site. “Despite our intervention, nothing was done by the company to redress the wrong; instead Willy was dismissed from work. All these show how Nigerians have always been treated with disdain by these so called expatriates in the construction companies. “We condemn the brutal killing of Arinze and demand that the Police charge Mr. Abdul Lateef for murder. Nigerians cannot continue to be treated like animals in their own country”. The Enugu State Police Command is yet to issue official statement on the matter, but a senior police officer who spoke to DailyPost confirmed that Lateef was in their custody.