Only 6 months after getting married, a 36-year-old Nigerian man was murdered during an attempt to defend his wife against a racist attack in Italy.
On July 5, Emmanuel Nnamdi and his wife Chinyere were walking through Ferno, in northern Italy, when an Italian man, Amedeo Mancini, called her an African monkey and tried to grab her.
As expected, Emmanuel came to her defence but lost his life from the resulting fight that broke out.
People who witnessed this horrific event stated how Mancini attacked first and continued to beat Emmanuel with a street sign until he lost consciousness.
Mancini, who was described as an extremist football fan with links to a far-right political party, claimed he only insulted them because he thought they were stealing a car.
What makes Emmanuel’s death more unfortunate is, he and Chinyere left Nigeria in 2015 after Boko Haram terrorists set their church on fire, killing both their parents and relatives.
After embarking on a dangerous journey to Italy through Libya, the couple were housed by a Catholic organisation that joined them in marriage in January 2016.
Italian interior minister, Angelino Alfano, condemned Emmanuel’s death with a promise to grant Chinyere refugee status .
Although Emmanuel’s wake was attended by many sympathizers, the political leader of an anti-immigrant party still blamed his death on immigration.
