Widow of Nigerian man beaten to death in Italy granted refugee status

The wife of a Nigerian man beaten to death in Italy has been granted refugee status in Italy, as the country debates how society and lawmakers should respond to racism.

Italy’s interior ministry announced on Friday that Chinyery Emmanuel had been given asylum a day after her husband, Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, died from injuries sustained in the attack in Fermo, a small town in central Italy.

The couple had arrived in Europe from Libya last year, after reportedly fleeing the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, and were being hosted by the church community in Fermo.

They were walking in the town on Tuesday when an Italian man allegedly called Namdi’s wife a “monkey”. The episode ended violently with Namdi falling into a coma and dying in hospital the next day.

Culled from Guardian news: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/08/widow-nigerian-man-beaten-death-italy-granted-refugee-status-chinyery-emmanuel-namdi-