INDIA RACE HATE ATTACK: DABIRI-EREWA URGES NIGERIANS IN INDIA TO BE VIGILANT

Hindustan Times via Getty Images: One of the injured admitted at Kailash Hospital post-violence on Monday evening in racial attacks on African nationals near Pari Chowk on March 28, 2017 in Greater Noida.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has urged Nigerians in India to remain calm and be watchful of their surroundings.

It comes after multiple distress calls by Nigerian students in India on concerns on their safety as a result of renewed attacks on them.

Four Nigerian students in India were attacked by a mob during a candle-light march for a teen boy who died of suspected drug overdose.

Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, condemned the mob action as unwarranted and deplorable.

The presidential aide, however, commended Indian government for immediate and prompt action and the arrest of five suspects.

Dabiri-Erewa noted that though the situation was calm at the moment, she urged the Indian government to protect Nigerian students in India going about their normal duties.

She said the Nigerian Charge d'Affairs in India,  Queen Worlu, has promptly visited the scene of the incident and also visited the three patients in hospital.

She urged the Indian government to ensure that any alleged suspect should be promptly tried and prosecuted, if found guilty.

"I have also spoken with Mr Charles Kennedy, President of the students' association in Greater Noida where the attacks occurred. He said though a Kenyan girl who was walking alone in the early hours of [Wednesday] was attacked; more police patrol vehicles have been deployed to all areas.

"He confirmed that the situation is calm and is pleased with the prompt actions of the Charge d'Affairs in India and the Indian government so far", she said