Protest as Nigerian student dies in Malaysian immigration custody

Nigerians resident in Malaysia Thursday staged a protest at the Nigerian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, over the death of a Nigerian student, Thomas Ewansiha, who was being detained by Malaysian immigration authorities.

The protesters accused the commission of not taking responsibility for the welfare of their countrymen.

Ewanisha, 33, was married with two children. He was pursuing a doctorate degree in management at the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology.

Khairul Daud, director-general of the Malaysian immigration, confirmed Ewansiha’s death in a statement on Friday.

He said the deceased was among 20 foreigners picked up during a raid at Desa Aman Puri in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, on July 4.

Immigration officers had stormed apartments in Desa Aman Puri following public complaints regarding the alleged influx of Africans in the area.

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“The subject also fled but was successfully arrested by operation officers, the subject then presented his passport and checks showed that subject had a student pass that was still valid,” he said.

“The subject’s action in fleeing had raised doubts about the authenticity of the student pass that was owned by the subject.”

It was learnt that Ewansiha was detained for 14 days at the Bukit Jalil depot for the officers to “verify the authenticity of his student passport”.

He said all the detainees were treated well and according to standard operating procedures.

“During the documentation process, the subject was given basic treatment by the civil defence department Malaysia as there were old wounds on the right calf of the subject and the subject had informed that he was not suffering any illness,” he said.

“At the time of incident around 12.05 midnight July 9, 2019, the officer on duty was informed by other detainees that the subject suddenly had a seizure while sleeping.”

He said the special treatment unit that was on duty had immediately carried out checks and treatment on Ewansiha, and that the Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) was contacted for immediate assistance when he fell ill.

According to him, the HUKM ambulance arrived together with an assistant medical officer at 12.30am and had continued to carry out checks and provided medical aid, but Ewansiha was later pronounced dead.

He said the supervising officer and the officer on duty then went to the Bukit Jalil police station to lodge a report.

“The Immigration is currently still waiting for the full medical report on the subject and the full autopsy report to identify the cause of death,” he said.

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