Diaspora commission condemns police killing of 27-year-old Nigerian in Ireland

The Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has condemned in strong terms the killing of Mr George Nkencho, a 27-year-old Nigerian in Ireland.

She called for a full investigation into the incident, which occurred in the Manorfields Drive area, near the Dublin/Meath border, on Wednesday.

The local police, Gardaí, had been called to the scene following reports of a man armed with a knife at a Eurospar shop in Hartstown.

Nkencho, said to be mentally ill, had allegedly threatened staff at the shop around 12.15pm.

He was reportedly involved in two separate incidents in the Hartstown Shopping Centre and allegedly threatened members of the public with a knife.

In one incident, a staff member in the EuroSpar received facial injuries.

He was subsequently shot dead by the local police after he refused to drop his weapon.

But Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement by the NIDCOM Head of Media and Public Relations, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, described the death of the young Nigerian as “callous and wicked.”

The statement was titled, ‘Dabiri-Erewa demands justice for Nigerian killed in Ireland’.

Dabiri-Erewa appealed to the Nigerian community in Ireland to exercise patience and await the outcome of investigation into the incident.

The statement read, “The NIDCOM boss condoled with the family of Nkencho and the Nigerian community in Ireland over the killing of George and prayed God to give the family and friends the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.

“Already, the African Advocacy Network Ireland has expressed shock over the callous shooting of George Nkencho on Wednesday, December 30.