Attitude of Nigerians in Goa upsets locals

Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has said that Goans are "annoyed" with the behaviour, attitude and way of life of Nigerians living in the coastal state.

Speaking to IANS, Parsekar also said that he was getting complaints against Nigerians on many occasions from locals.

"The Goans in general are complaining about these foreigners. We get people from all other countries, but in general the people of Goa are very much annoyed with their (Nigerians') behaviour, with their attitude, with their way of life," Parsekar said, even as police on Monday arrested a Nigerian for allegedly raping a 31-year-old woman in Assagao village, 20 km from Panaji.

"I cannot generalise. But generally people in Goa are not happy with these people," Parsekar said, adding that he regularly hears complaints about Nigerians.

Earlier, Goa's Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar had demanded a new law to facilitate quick deportation of Nigerians, who Parulekar claimed got embroiled in criminal cases on purpose, in order to extend their stay in India.

"Nigerians create problem not just in Goa, but in the entire country. Nigerian students come to Goa and India to study, they get an FIR filed (against them), make it a judicial matter and they try to stay in India or Goa and indulge in drugs and other unwanted things," Parulekar said on Monday.

In October 2013, over 50 Nigerians had blocked the National Highway 17 in Goa, to protest against police inaction following a murder of a Nigerian national, allegedly by a local drug cartel.

The blockade had also seen police and locals being beaten up by the protesting Nigerians, before some of the foreigners were also beaten up in retaliation by a local mob.