Outrage in Italy after fatal attack of Nigerian immigrant while onlookers film

Authorities in Italy have arrested a man who was filmed fatally attacking a disabled Nigerian street-seller following an alleged disagreement. According to Sky News, onlookers filmed the physical altercation without trying to intervene.

The victim was identified as 39-year-old Alika Ogorchukwu. And footage of the attack was widely shared on Italian news platforms as well as social media. Police said onlookers did not try to break up the fight even though they were heard saying “stop.”

“I need justice for my husband, that is what I want. Because it is too much, the pain is too much for me,” the deceased man’s wife, Charity Oriachi, said.

The Nigerian immigrant’s killing drew outrage in the European nation and also sparked protests. It also comes in the wake of a parliamentary election campaign where the right-wing coalition has reportedly registered its displeasure with the country’s immigration situation.

“The murder of Alika Ogorchukwu is dismaying,” the head of the left-wing Democratic Party, Enrico Letta, shared on Twitter. “Unheard of ferocity. Widespread indifference. There can be no justification.”

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Filippo Claudio Giuseppe Ferlazzo, was arrested after police used street cameras to locate him. He has since been charged with murder and theft. Authorities said he took Ogorchukwu’s phone after he fled the scene. 

The fatal July 29 incident occurred after Ferlazzo took issue with Ogorchukwu’s “insistent” demands for pocket change, police chief Matteo Luconi told Sky TG24. The suspect allegedly took hold of the disabled victim’s crutch before tackling him down. Ogorchukwu tried defending himself but to no avail, footage showed. 

The victim started street-selling after he sustained an injury in a car accident. He was left without a job as a result, and he had to resort to using crutches due to a limp he suffered from the accident, Sky News reported. 

Daniel Amanza, who oversees the ACSIM association for immigrants in the Italian province of Macerata, told The Associated Press that Ferlazzo attacked Ogorchukwu after the Nigerian immigrant told the suspect’s partner that was she beautiful.

“This compliment killed him,” Amanza said. “The tragic fact is that there were many people nearby. They filmed, saying ‘Stop’, but no one moved to separate them,”