A Nigerian was shot dead in Warsaw on Sunday after a struggle with police who chased him through a crowded open-air market whose traders pelted officers with bricks, police said after making 32 arrests.

The 36-year-old man took flight when a police patrol entered the market in the central Praga district, police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski told AFP.

Traders threw bricks and other objects at police when they began to pursue him, Sokolowski said.

"According to certain witnesses, the man tried to wrestle a gun away from a policeman," when it went off, he said.

"A police officer was wounded and hospitalised. Thirty-two people were detained, most likely all Nigerians, but we are still checking their identities," Sokolowski said.

Investigators have opened an inquiry into the circumstances of the man's death.

http://www.africasia.com/services/news_africa/article.php?ID=CNG.936e144ccc4a23348cdcc0aec488b9ea.111

RIP to the unfortunate young man and my sincere sympathies to his family and friends.

These Eastern European countries are very oppressive and racist to black people. I am not surprised that there was a riot, it seems the Nigerian community are starting to assert there right to be treated as human beings.

GenBuhari:

RIP to the unfortunate young man and my sincere sympathies to his family and friends.

These Eastern European countries are very oppressive and racist to black people. I am not surprised that there was a riot, it seems the Nigerian community are starting to assert there right to be treated as human beings.

I knid of agree with that.Heard stories from friends in austria and russia

These Eastern European countries are very oppressive and racist to black people

umm, may be you forget about South Africans killing and burning fellow blacks.

whats do you can that?

^^^pointless post

otawa:

umm, may be you forget about South Africans killing and burning fellow blacks.

whats do you can that?

Or our fellow Jos brothers killing themselves?

I wonder why Nigerians should be out in a foreign country protesting oppresion when back home we cant do nuffin when our leaders oppress us.

Goodness, how narrow-minded can you louts be?

We don't know why he was being chased by the police, but trying to wrest a gun from a policeman will get you shot in almost any country in the world, irrespective of your skin color.
If i were a Policeman and i saw a suspect grabbing a gun from another officer, i'll take him down ASAP.

Racism my butt. More like stupidity.

Why would one try to wrestle a gun from a police? What was he gonna do with it?RIP bro!. These eastern bloc countries are the worst racists in europe including russia.

Come on guys, do you believe that "trying to wrest gun from the arms of a police officer" line ? That's like the oldest line in law enforcement, i'm sure even the Romans used it when asked why they killed Jesus.

There is no place like home. If you feel that your host country is racist then come back home.

The funny thing is that the guy may be one of those that say all sorts of nonsense about Nigeria and Nigerians even when they tolerate all sorts of inhuman treatment in foreign lands.

Now the main issue - Why was he running if he had nothing to hide?

May his soul rest in peace though.

edoyad:

Come on guys, do you believe that "trying to wrest gun from the arms of a police officer" line ? That's like the oldest line in law enforcement, i'm sure even the Romans used it when asked why they killed Jesus.

Exactly. Wrestling gun my fat ****. He was probably shot execution style. A story needed to be cooked up to cover the extrajudicial killing.

GenBuhari:

^^^pointless post

You think all these one liners will raise your post count eh?

edoyad:

Come on guys, do you believe that "trying to wrest gun from the arms of a police officer" line ? That's like the oldest line in law enforcement, i'm sure even the Romans used it when asked why they killed Jesus.

" Ah, that Yeshua guy? Oh, yeah, he was trying to wrest the spear from Centurion Augustus Dominus of Arganet, so, the archers took him down. . . "

edoyad:

Come on guys, do you believe that "trying to wrest gun from the arms of a police officer" line ? That's like the oldest line in law enforcement, i'm sure even the Romans used it when asked why they killed Jesus.

You're just speculating. We do know that some Nigerians are foolhardy enough to do this.
The Journalist killed two months ago in lagos was said to have physically grappled with two armed robbers in his house before he was shot.

By the way, see Afam's point; if you have nothing to hide, why run?

same was said of jean charles de menezes the alledged suicide bomber after the july 2005 attack in london. After he was murdered by 9 shots to the head by M15, the media claimed he was wearing a suicide vest, that he was running away from police, that he behaved suspiciously etc.

What happened later is now history and the poor guy has been vindicated. Its easy for you guys to criticise this nigerian, wonder if you will be this cold hearted had he been your brother or father.

snowdrops:

same was said of jean charles de menezes the alledged suicide bomber after the july 2005 attack in london. After he was murdered by 9 shots to the head by M15, the media claimed he was wearing a suicide vest, that he was running away from police, that he behaved suspiciously etc.

What happened later is now history and the poor guy has been vindicated. Its easy for you guys to criticise this nigerian, wonder if you will be this cold hearted had he been your brother or father.

Do you have anything to show or prove that he was sighted and shot by the Polish policemen? If your answer is in the negative then please focus on what can be referenced or even inferred at this point.

I always advice my people (friends and relations) never to run away from the police let alone fully armed policemen so your last paragraph does not apply to me.

If I am a policeman or soldier and you run when I ask you to stop I will fire at you without wasting time considering the fact that every single time I am on duty my life is at risk of being taken by criminals.

Again I ask - why run from the police if you have nothing to hide? Reports talked about people even stoning the policemen when they were pursuing the guy.

Just as i dont have cast iron evidence at this point that he was shot by the Polish police, you also dont have one that he was running away from the Polish police. We are both going by what the article above reported.

That said, we dont know why he was running away from the police. People can have legitimate reason to. Imagine if he had a mental illness, with florid delusions surrounding persecution from law enforcement? Eastern Europe is renowned for endemic corruption compared to her western neighbours. They police could have been involed in some shady dealings.

Again ask yourself, was he armed? If not then why murder him? Why were the fellow traders stoning the police? How come they were that brave to do that? The article smells of a stitch up, and all the pointers are that this was an innocent non-white foreigner killed by the police for an offence not worth the consequences.

snowdrops:

Again ask yourself, was he armed? If not then why murder him? Why were the fellow traders stoning the police? How come they were that brave to do that? The article smells of a stitch up, and all the pointers are that this was an innocent non-white foreigner killed by the police for an offence not worth the consequences.

An unarmed person can disarm a fully armed policeman. That is not saying he did that but to answer your question about an unarmed person being shot.

Was the guy mentally deranged? Why would they shoot the guy and not shoot those that were actually stoning the police while they were chasing the guy?

Why didn't the police kill those that actually stoned them instead of arresting them?

Even if he is a criminal, drug dealer, illegal immigrant or whatever the police is not entittled by law to take any life. Even if he killed somebody at least from the poster he is not in any gun battle with the police so the police gat no reason to shot him. In UK that police man will face justice as far as it is nothing to do with a would be terrorist but in poland, the police is just like Nigerian police( bribery and corruption).

In UK that police man will face justice as far as it is nothing to do with a would be terrorist but in poland, the police is just like Nigerian police( bribery and corruption).

ummm. I wonder what happened to UK Police that killed the poor Brazilian guy way back in 2006

There is no place like home. If you feel that your host country is racist then come back home.

yeah. you are so right,

presido1:

Even if he is a criminal, drug dealer, illegal immigrant or whatever the police is not entittled by law to take any life. Even if he killed somebody at least from the poster he is not in any gun battle with the police so the police gat no reason to shot him. In UK that police man will face justice as far as it is nothing to do with a would be terrorist but in poland, the police is just like Nigerian police( bribery and corruption).

Read the frigging story. It is alleged that he was trying to snatch a loaded weapon from a Policeman. if he had managed to grab the rifle, only God knows what he may have done.

No policeman in the UK will face any 'justice' if it is revealed and proven that the fellow was actively trying to grab a loaded weapon with possibly lethal intent.

snowdrops:

Just as i dont have cast iron evidence at this point that he was shot by the Polish police, you also dont have one that he was running away from the Polish police. We are both going by what the article above reported.

That said, we dont know why he was running away from the police. People can have legitimate reason to. Imagine if he had a mental illness, with florid delusions surrounding persecution from law enforcement? Eastern Europe is renowned for endemic corruption compared to her western neighbours. They police could have been involed in some shady dealings.

Again ask yourself, was he armed? If not then why murder him? Why were the fellow traders stoning the police? How come they were that brave to do that? The article smells of a stitch up, and all the pointers are that this was an innocent non-white foreigner killed by the police for an offence not worth the consequences.

We have the newspaper article, and like it or not, that is the solidest piece of info we have right now. Anything else is just speculation and imagination. Stop cooking up scenarios.

texazzpete:



We have the newspaper article, and like it or not, that is the solidest piece of info we have right now. Anything else is just speculation and imagination. Stop cooking up scenarios.

I was having a discussion with Afam and hence the hypothetical examples i gave. Your phrase "cooking scenario" is hence out of context.
What we were saying is that the story simply dont add up and we need more information to draw conclusion or pass judgement. If any of the by-standers are on NL their opinion would be welcome.
What we do know is that the polish police chased and killed a civilian. Other issues appear at present as mere speculation.

snowdrops:

I was having a discussion with Afam and hence the hypothetical examples i gave. Your phrase "cooking scenario" is hence out of context.
What we were saying is that the story simply dont add up and we need more information to draw conclusion or pass judgement. If any of the by-standers are on NL their opinion would be welcome.
What we do know is that the polish police chased and killed a civilian. Other issues appear at present as mere speculation.

The Police released a statement saying he tried to grab a gun from an officer. They claim several eyewitnesses corroborate that.
Now, that may not be true, but that's all we have to work with for now.

However, 234Next paints a different view of things

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5572491-146/nigeria_protests_killing_in_poland_.csp


Polish National Police spokesperson, Mariusz Sokolowski, said officers at the market chased after a Nigerian who ran away from them while they were on patrol. One of the officers threw the man to the ground and tried to handcuff him, but a group of foreigners attacked him, Mr Sokolowski said, claiming that the officer's handgun fired during the struggle, with the round striking the Nigerian.

"This man could have been saved and police officers started to resuscitate him, but they were repeatedly attacked with stones by a group of foreigners and were forced to defend themselves, and had to stop the resuscitation," Mr Sokolowski added.

He said six police officers were injured in the fighting and 32 foreigners were arrested.


I guess the smart thing is to wait for the outcome of the investigation. or at least to tell us what crime the man had committed that made him run.

Many of these NL Nigerians abroad are begining to annoy me with the way they treat cases that involve their own. How can anyone try to imply that because of the riot in Jos and xenophobia in SA, we should shut up and eat the humble pie. . Scheeew. . Some of these diasporans sef, una dey tire person with una arguement and logic. . Anyway, na una saka sha, after all shebi dis one na one of una, make una dey claim liberal until dem go take style exterminate una finish there, shebi we are not supposed to complain. . I wont be surprised if the likes of Kobojunk come up in here and become the self appointed DA of the Polish Police department.
I ve read two versions of this particular story already, and they are totally different, this shows that there is a deliberate attempt to paint the picture in a way that puts the Polish police in good light and the the murdered Nigerian, a criminal. Who in their right senses will want to struggle with a police officer for their gun, imagine them trying to insinuate that they were pelted with stones and bricks at the market without any provocation, I wonder what kind of monster the Polish police is that a mere sight of their presence could evoke so much hate from the crowd. This whole story has racial prejudice written all over it and we must condem it and demand for justice, irrespective of whether worse has happened in our own country or in another african country, things like this are bound to happen anyway.

Dear all,

I am Polish myself. First of all, let me say that I am very sorry and ashamed because of what has happened in Warsaw. And I am not the only Pole to feel like this. Yesterday about 100 people (most of them Poles) demonstrated against this police killing. You can see some photos at [url]http://warszawa.gazeta.pl/warszawa/1,95190,7930579,Tlum_oskarza_policje__macie_krew_na_mundurach.html[/url]. The police claim that the killed man was trying to wrestle the gun from the policeman's hands, but many people say that the situation looked very different. It is not true [/b]that street vendors were aggressive before the man was killed. Even the police no longer claim that. Many people (among them many of the wives of African street vendors who have been arrested by the police because of the riots [b]after the killing) claim that the man was killed while lying face down on the street, that he was not armed and not at all aggressive towards the policemen. He was not the one who was trying to escape a police control. According to the wives of  some of the arrested street vendors, the policeman was known for his brutality and racism (he is said to have kicked another street vendor a day earlier) and when riots began after the killing, the police arrested all the black men they came across, whether they participated in the riots or not, although there were Vietnamese and white men who also took part in the riots. The prosecutor's office has started an investigation into the killing. I am probably going to publish soon an article on this police killing on a British Web site.

To those who say that a policeman has the right to kill a person who escapes: I will [b]never [/b]agree with this view, such killings are a blatant violation of human rights.

Do translate the article to English for us to read. But one of the banners says it all. Hope those that are in support of the killing will not attack you to prove a point. I have been to Krakow and Warsaw the experience wasn't good.

presido1, the article will be in English. I will post a link to it on this forum. I am not afraid of any attacks because the aggressive Polish racists will almost certainly not read an article in English on this police killing. I am not at all surprised to learn that your experience in Krakow and Warsaw wasn't good, racism is unfortunately still very frequent in the Polish society. It is very depressing, but I still (maybe naively) hope that it may change in the future.

^^^^ You don't sound polish though.

Well, I think that I'm a very, very atypical Pole , I am often amused when I read what foreigners say or write about Polish mentality etc. because many of the attitudes considered as typically Polish (e.g. strong prejudice against Russians and the idea that it is always beautiful to die fighting the enemy, even when there's not the remotest chance for victory and thousands of civilians are killed in reprisals) are completely alien to me. I often feel like a foreigner in my own country. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my maternal grandparents came from a region (Gorny Slask in south-western Poland, maybe you have heard of it) which was not a part of Poland for many centuries and where Poles lived peacefully alongside Germans before 1918. And maybe it has even more to do with my love of foreign literature - while reading countless novels and stories by non-Polish authors, I have probably become a kind of cosmopolite (which is not at all well seen in Poland) !

presido1:

Hope those that are in support of the killing will not attack you to prove a point.

I don't think anyone is supporting the killing but explaining why such killing could take place. There is a difference.

And you don't have to hope for anything, just address the issues and move on.

I am shocked about the unsupportive post regarding the killing of our son in foreign land.
@rymz ,  i disagree that it is only diasporans (I am a diasporans) that are like this, there appears to be a lot of resident Nigerians with this shameful unpatriotic attitude.
We really need shake off this inferiority complex or what ever it is responsible for this shameful attitude.

rhymz:

Many of these NL Nigerians abroad are begining to annoy me with the way they treat cases that involve their own. How can anyone try to imply that because of the riot in Jos and xenophobia in SA, we should shut up and eat the humble pie. . Scheeew. . Some of these diasporans sef, una dey tire person with una arguement and logic. . Anyway, na una saka sha, after all shebi dis one na one of una, make una dey claim liberal until dem go take style exterminate una finish there, shebi we are not supposed to complain. . I wont be surprised if the likes of Kobojunk come up in here and become the self appointed DA of the Polish Police department.
I ve read two versions of this particular story already, and they are totally different, this shows that there is a deliberate attempt to paint the picture in a way that puts the Polish police in good light and the the murdered Nigerian, a criminal. Who in their right senses will want to struggle with a police officer for their gun, imagine them trying to insinuate that they were pelted with stones and bricks at the market without any provocation, I wonder what kind of monster the Polish police is that a mere sight of their presence could evoke so much hate from the crowd. This whole story has racial prejudice written all over it and we must condem it and demand for justice, irrespective of whether worse has happened in our own country or in another african country, things like this are bound to happen anyway.

Afam,  I think that presido1 meant the Poles who don't see anything wrong in this shooting or even think that the killed man deserved to die. Some of these Poles are so racist that they are indeed aggressive towards all those who dare to disagree with their racist views. The things one can now read on many Polish forums are simply horrifying.