Posted by By Oshimowo Moses Kehinde on
The Chinese police kidnapped the president of the Nigeria Community China in Guangdong, Mr. Okey Uche yesterday. Mr. Okey was invited to the Jiefan Na Lu office of the immigration department and forcefully taken away to an unknown destination.
How corrupt Officials hoped to stay rich
The Chinese police kidnapped the president of the Nigeria Community China in Guangdong, Mr. Okey Uche yesterday. Mr. Okey was invited to the Jiefan Na Lu office of the immigration department and forcefully taken away to an unknown destination.
The arrest is not unconnected with the Nigeria Community China's stance against the detention of Nigerians in China. Over the last two years, the Chinese police and their agents have attacked Nigerians especially in Guangzhou city. On one occasion, the police chased one Mr. Charles Mbigbo and he fell from a four-storey building. The police took him to the hospital and abandoned him there without leaving any trace of their identity. Mbigbo was sent out of the hospital when the Nigeria Community and churches could no longer foot the bills. The situation worsened and began to affect Mbigbo's mental health and it was the Nigeria Community that raised money through churches to send Mbigbo home.
Despite the letter from the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing requesting the police to prevail on the hospital to provide records of the patient's medical treatment to continue his treatment in Nigeria no such documents were provided. This is obviously to prevent any indictment of the authorities. Mr. Mbigo was flown back to Nigeria on the 31st of May 2005 still sick and mentally unbalanced. That is just one of the cases the Nigeria Community is involved in. There are several other Nigerians in detention for more than one year for offenses like overstaying.
The Chinese immigration has singled out Nigerians for non-issuance of visas. Where they are issued, Nigerians are made to cough out huge sums of money up to the tune of 2000USD or more.
The Nigeria Community rose up to these challenges and asked for a fairer treatment. The immigration tried to pull a deal with the Nigeria Community president in which the exploitation would continue while the booty is shared between official of the immigration and Mr. Uche. Mr. Okey Uche turned down this offer and had since been in the black book of the police. For this reason the immigration reduced his resident permit status to a one-month visa for which he was still made to pay 1600RMB instead of the official 160RMB. This happened twice before his eventual arrest.
Mr. Uche was arrested when the immigration invited him to come to their office to extend his visa. He went with his fourteen-month old son leaving behind a wife and an eight-day old baby. The police seized his son from him in a manner reminiscent of the apartheid era in South Africa.
© 2005 Nigeriaworld