Nigerians in Italy have refuted the recent claim by Mr Osaze Osemwengie-Ero, former Commissioner that Nigerians residing in Italy are being maltreated by Italian government and that over 300 Nigerians are being unlawfully detained in the country.
Mr Oputteh Michael, Welfare Officer, National Union of Nigerian Associations in Italy (NUNAI), debunked this claim by Ero who was Edo’s former Commissioner for Arts, Culture, Tourism and Diaspora Affairs, in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin on Sunday.
Ero returned from Italy to Nigeria in after he was released from detention in Italy, raised the alarm that over 300 Nigerians are presently languishing in Italian prisons.
The Edo former Commissioner further claimed that he too was wrongly detained by the Italian government.
According to him, I was a victim of racial discrimination and manipulation of a very corrupt prosecutor of the Italian Justice system,” and that many Nigerians are in his shoe over there in Italy.
However, NUNAI disagreed with Ero’s claimed by stressing that Italian authorities have never targeted Nigerians for any harassment nor racial discrimination.
Michael noted that if the Italian government and judiciary were corrupt and discriminate racially as claimed by Ero, they (the Italian judiciary) would not have freed Ero from detention for lack of enough evidence on the allegations against him.
The NUNAI Welfare Officer said no fewer than 100,000 Nigerians currently live in Italy and with some inter-married between the two countries.
He noted this could not have been possible if Ero’s claimed was true.
“Italian authorities have never targeted Nigerians for any harassment nor are they engaged in racial discrimination. Precisely, we have more than 100,000 Nigerians living legally in Italy.
“These people are engaged in lawful businesses and some have even integrated into the Italian society and married Italians, while Italians also married Nigerians.
“Some have also acquired their
citizenship. Definitely, if Nigerians are targeted by the Italian authorities, how come the same Italy gave Nigerians good abode in Italy. Why are these over 100,000 thousand Nigerians not arrested and put in prisons?
“It is also surprising that Mr Ero is accusing the Italian Judiciary of corruption and manipulation.
“The same corrupt judiciary tried him and set him free for lack of enough evidence. It means the judiciary is very fair and transparent,” he said.
The Welfare Officer who appealed to Ero not to use his political ambition to jeopardize the good relationship Nigerians have with Italians, noted that the former Commissioner’s claim could lead to war between Nigeria and Italy.
According to him, “Italy is a Sovereign state and I wonder whether he wants Nigeria to go to war with Italy just because of his political ambition.”
He therefore urged Ero to leave Nigerians in Italy in peace and should not use his political ambition to cause problem for them over there.
“The lives of Nigerians in Italy is greater than his political ambition,” he stated.