A young Nigerian student, Olaolu Femi, is facing life in prison in Ukraine for
attempted murder. Continue to read the full story. African Outlook gathered that the Nigerian identified
as Olaolu Sunkanmi Femi and one of his friends were
physically attacked in front of his apartment by four
Ukrainian young men and two women who pulled
them to the ground while hurling racist slurs on
them. According to eye witness account, Sunkanmi was said
to have managed to get up and defended himself
against the assailants with a glass from a broken
bottle. "It was while he was defending himself that police
arrived at the scene and the Nigerian was
subsequently arrested and charged with attempted
murder of five people" a Nigerian embassy staff who
has knowledge of the case told African Outlook,
adding that the victim thus became an accused in a case which has become a celebrated case in Ukraine. African Outlook gathered that Olasunkanmi has since
been remanded in detention by the Ukrainian police
who refused to take the case to court citing
unavailability of the police to get an interpreter for
him. But the Nigerian students' community in Ukraine
under the leadership of Osarumen David-Izevbokun, a
Phd student in international relations has been
working tirelessly to ensure justice for the Nigerian
by organizing protests as well as drawing the
attentions of the human right groups in Ukraine to the plight of Olasunkanmi who has spent almost
seven months in jail without trial. David-Izevbokun told African Outlook that he
alongside other Nigerian students in conjunctions
with some members of the Ukrainian human right
groups staged a protest on April, 9 outside the
Leninsky District Court in Luhanski demanding the
release of Olasunkanmi. The actions, according to David-Izevbokun has put
the Ukraine police on the spot as the case came up
for hearing on May 3. "We had a lot of media
coverage on the protest " David-Izevbokun said,
noting that he was sure the attention given the case
may have prompted the May 3 court appearance of the suspect. David-Izevbokun who was at the May 3, court
hearing told African Outlook that Olasunkanmi
appeared depressed when he showed up in court. Many other Nigerian students spoken to by African
Outlook however raised concern about the
competence of the female lawyer: Ludmila Havrysh
handling Olasunkanmi's case. The Ukrainian lawyer was reported to have told
protesters that her client has not been able to read
the file material since it is all written in Ukrainian or
Russian which he doesn’t understand and that was
why her client had remained in jail. "We heard she wanted to be paid $10,000 when she
had not even been able to secure bail for her client
who has been in detention for more than six
months" an irate Nigerian told African Outlook
wondering whether the lawyer was capable of
defending Olasunkanmi. Another source also told African Outlook that one of
the attackers's family who has a connection with the
Ukrainian police may have been the reason why the
Nigerian student was being detained without trial. "They went to the hospital and documents were
secured for infliction of wounds. I learnt that one of
the supposed victim (Ukrainian) has a police relative
or parent, and so vowed to deal ruthlessly with
Olasunkanmi" a Nigerian student quoted one narrator
as saying while lamenting that the Nigerian embassy's representative came to visit Olasunkanmi
in jail once but did not return again after the first
visit. But an embassy spokesperson who pleaded
anonymity (because he is not authorized to comment
on the case) told African Outlook that the Nigerian
consulate had not abandoned the Nigerian to his fate
"We are in torch with the Ukrainian authority and
we have been doing everything to ensure the boy is released unconditionally using diplomatic channel" he
said, adding that the Olasunkanmi was being charged
for attempted murder, an offense which under
Ukrainian law is not bailable. "There are ways in which we handle cases like this
so that we would not appear to be hostile or
criticizing our host countries' laws" the embassy staff
said while assuring that he was confident
Olasunkanmi would be released soon. When asked if the embassy has been able to secure
the service of an attorney for the Nigerian student,
the embassy staff said: "It is not within our mandate
to pay for attorney's fees for any Nigerian in
distress, you may check this out with other Nigerian
embassies abroad, but we have been working with the Nigerian community leaders here to ensure that
we do everything within our means to help
Olasunkanmi in time of his need" the staff added
hinting that the representative of the embassy was
at the May 3 hearing. In a related development African Outlook gathered
that a 28-year-old Nigerian student of Kharkiv
National Radio Electronic University is in intensive
care unit with knife injuries to his neck following an
attack on him by people believed to be racists. Another 19-year-old Nigerian student from the
Poltava Agrarian Academy is also lying critically ill in
the Ukrainian hospital following knife injury
inflicted on him by yet to be identified persons. African Outlook gathered that the two Nigerian
students were attacked late in the evenings by
assailants who fled the scene immediately after the
attacks. The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Ukraine
are treating both cases as attempted murder
motivated by racial intolerance. Speaking on the two recent attacks, the Nigerian
embassy said they were yet to be briefed on the
case.A young Nigerian student, Olaolu Femi, is facing life in prison in Ukraine for
attempted murder. Continue to read the full story. African Outlook gathered that the Nigerian identified
as Olaolu Sunkanmi Femi and one of his friends were
physically attacked in front of his apartment by four
Ukrainian young men and two women who pulled
them to the ground while hurling racist slurs on
them. According to eye witness account, Sunkanmi was said
to have managed to get up and defended himself
against the assailants with a glass from a broken
bottle. "It was while he was defending himself that police
arrived at the scene and the Nigerian was
subsequently arrested and charged with attempted
murder of five people" a Nigerian embassy staff who
has knowledge of the case told African Outlook,
adding that the victim thus became an accused in a case which has become a celebrated case in Ukraine. African Outlook gathered that Olasunkanmi has since
been remanded in detention by the Ukrainian police
who refused to take the case to court citing
unavailability of the police to get an interpreter for
him. But the Nigerian students' community in Ukraine
under the leadership of Osarumen David-Izevbokun, a
Phd student in international relations has been
working tirelessly to ensure justice for the Nigerian
by organizing protests as well as drawing the
attentions of the human right groups in Ukraine to the plight of Olasunkanmi who has spent almost
seven months in jail without trial. David-Izevbokun told African Outlook that he
alongside other Nigerian students in conjunctions
with some members of the Ukrainian human right
groups staged a protest on April, 9 outside the
Leninsky District Court in Luhanski demanding the
release of Olasunkanmi. The actions, according to David-Izevbokun has put
the Ukraine police on the spot as the case came up
for hearing on May 3. "We had a lot of media
coverage on the protest " David-Izevbokun said,
noting that he was sure the attention given the case
may have prompted the May 3 court appearance of the suspect. David-Izevbokun who was at the May 3, court
hearing told African Outlook that Olasunkanmi
appeared depressed when he showed up in court. Many other Nigerian students spoken to by African
Outlook however raised concern about the
competence of the female lawyer: Ludmila Havrysh
handling Olasunkanmi's case. The Ukrainian lawyer was reported to have told
protesters that her client has not been able to read
the file material since it is all written in Ukrainian or
Russian which he doesn’t understand and that was
why her client had remained in jail. "We heard she wanted to be paid $10,000 when she
had not even been able to secure bail for her client
who has been in detention for more than six
months" an irate Nigerian told African Outlook
wondering whether the lawyer was capable of
defending Olasunkanmi. Another source also told African Outlook that one of
the attackers's family who has a connection with the
Ukrainian police may have been the reason why the
Nigerian student was being detained without trial. "They went to the hospital and documents were
secured for infliction of wounds. I learnt that one of
the supposed victim (Ukrainian) has a police relative
or parent, and so vowed to deal ruthlessly with
Olasunkanmi" a Nigerian student quoted one narrator
as saying while lamenting that the Nigerian embassy's representative came to visit Olasunkanmi
in jail once but did not return again after the first
visit. But an embassy spokesperson who pleaded
anonymity (because he is not authorized to comment
on the case) told African Outlook that the Nigerian
consulate had not abandoned the Nigerian to his fate
"We are in torch with the Ukrainian authority and
we have been doing everything to ensure the boy is released unconditionally using diplomatic channel" he
said, adding that the Olasunkanmi was being charged
for attempted murder, an offense which under
Ukrainian law is not bailable. "There are ways in which we handle cases like this
so that we would not appear to be hostile or
criticizing our host countries' laws" the embassy staff
said while assuring that he was confident
Olasunkanmi would be released soon. When asked if the embassy has been able to secure
the service of an attorney for the Nigerian student,
the embassy staff said: "It is not within our mandate
to pay for attorney's fees for any Nigerian in
distress, you may check this out with other Nigerian
embassies abroad, but we have been working with the Nigerian community leaders here to ensure that
we do everything within our means to help
Olasunkanmi in time of his need" the staff added
hinting that the representative of the embassy was
at the May 3 hearing. In a related development African Outlook gathered
that a 28-year-old Nigerian student of Kharkiv
National Radio Electronic University is in intensive
care unit with knife injuries to his neck following an
attack on him by people believed to be racists. Another 19-year-old Nigerian student from the
Poltava Agrarian Academy is also lying critically ill in
the Ukrainian hospital following knife injury
inflicted on him by yet to be identified persons. African Outlook gathered that the two Nigerian
students were attacked late in the evenings by
assailants who fled the scene immediately after the
attacks. The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Ukraine
are treating both cases as attempted murder
motivated by racial intolerance. Speaking on the two recent attacks, the Nigerian
embassy said they were yet to be briefed on the
case.A young Nigerian student, Olaolu Femi, is facing life in prison in Ukraine for
attempted murder. Continue to read the full story. African Outlook gathered that the Nigerian identified
as Olaolu Sunkanmi Femi and one of his friends were
physically attacked in front of his apartment by four
Ukrainian young men and two women who pulled
them to the ground while hurling racist slurs on
them. According to eye witness account, Sunkanmi was said
to have managed to get up and defended himself
against the assailants with a glass from a broken
bottle. "It was while he was defending himself that police
arrived at the scene and the Nigerian was
subsequently arrested and charged with attempted
murder of five people" a Nigerian embassy staff who
has knowledge of the case told African Outlook,
adding that the victim thus became an accused in a case which has become a celebrated case in Ukraine. African Outlook gathered that Olasunkanmi has since
been remanded in detention by the Ukrainian police
who refused to take the case to court citing
unavailability of the police to get an interpreter for
him. But the Nigerian students' community in Ukraine
under the leadership of Osarumen David-Izevbokun, a
Phd student in international relations has been
working tirelessly to ensure justice for the Nigerian
by organizing protests as well as drawing the
attentions of the human right groups in Ukraine to the plight of Olasunkanmi who has spent almost
seven months in jail without trial. David-Izevbokun told African Outlook that he
alongside other Nigerian students in conjunctions
with some members of the Ukrainian human right
groups staged a protest on April, 9 outside the
Leninsky District Court in Luhanski demanding the
release of Olasunkanmi. The actions, according to David-Izevbokun has put
the Ukraine police on the spot as the case came up
for hearing on May 3. "We had a lot of media
coverage on the protest " David-Izevbokun said,
noting that he was sure the attention given the case
may have prompted the May 3 court appearance of the suspect. David-Izevbokun who was at the May 3, court
hearing told African Outlook that Olasunkanmi
appeared depressed when he showed up in court. Many other Nigerian students spoken to by African
Outlook however raised concern about the
competence of the female lawyer: Ludmila Havrysh
handling Olasunkanmi's case. The Ukrainian lawyer was reported to have told
protesters that her client has not been able to read
the file material since it is all written in Ukrainian or
Russian which he doesn’t understand and that was
why her client had remained in jail. "We heard she wanted to be paid $10,000 when she
had not even been able to secure bail for her client
who has been in detention for more than six
months" an irate Nigerian told African Outlook
wondering whether the lawyer was capable of
defending Olasunkanmi. Another source also told African Outlook that one of
the attackers's family who has a connection with the
Ukrainian police may have been the reason why the
Nigerian student was being detained without trial. "They went to the hospital and documents were
secured for infliction of wounds. I learnt that one of
the supposed victim (Ukrainian) has a police relative
or parent, and so vowed to deal ruthlessly with
Olasunkanmi" a Nigerian student quoted one narrator
as saying while lamenting that the Nigerian embassy's representative came to visit Olasunkanmi
in jail once but did not return again after the first
visit. But an embassy spokesperson who pleaded
anonymity (because he is not authorized to comment
on the case) told African Outlook that the Nigerian
consulate had not abandoned the Nigerian to his fate
"We are in torch with the Ukrainian authority and
we have been doing everything to ensure the boy is released unconditionally using diplomatic channel" he
said, adding that the Olasunkanmi was being charged
for attempted murder, an offense which under
Ukrainian law is not bailable. "There are ways in which we handle cases like this
so that we would not appear to be hostile or
criticizing our host countries' laws" the embassy staff
said while assuring that he was confident
Olasunkanmi would be released soon. When asked if the embassy has been able to secure
the service of an attorney for the Nigerian student,
the embassy staff said: "It is not within our mandate
to pay for attorney's fees for any Nigerian in
distress, you may check this out with other Nigerian
embassies abroad, but we have been working with the Nigerian community leaders here to ensure that
we do everything within our means to help
Olasunkanmi in time of his need" the staff added
hinting that the representative of the embassy was
at the May 3 hearing. In a related development African Outlook gathered
that a 28-year-old Nigerian student of Kharkiv
National Radio Electronic University is in intensive
care unit with knife injuries to his neck following an
attack on him by people believed to be racists. Another 19-year-old Nigerian student from the
Poltava Agrarian Academy is also lying critically ill in
the Ukrainian hospital following knife injury
inflicted on him by yet to be identified persons. African Outlook gathered that the two Nigerian
students were attacked late in the evenings by
assailants who fled the scene immediately after the
attacks. The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Ukraine
are treating both cases as attempted murder
motivated by racial intolerance. Speaking on the two recent attacks, the Nigerian
embassy said they were yet to be briefed on the
case.