Nigerians' issues should be handled on a case-to-case basis: Shantaram Naik

The issues involving Nigerians should be handled on a case-to-case basis and everyone cannot be labelled as a criminal, Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik said on Friday.

He also opined that the foreigners over-staying in the country should be deported.

"The issues related to Nigerians should be taken up on a case-to-case basis. We can't label everyone as a criminal," Naik told reporters here amid the raging controversy on the issue.

"I feel that those foreigners including Nigerians who are over-staying or staying with extended visa should be deported. That is the only solution," he said.

The MP also said that action should be taken against drug traffickers.

Referring to a case wherein a group of Nigerians had blocked the National Highway at Porvorim in Goa in 2013, Naik said, "I am shocked that till date no charge sheet is filed in the violence that Nigerians created."

He said, overall India has very good relations with African countries and would like to maintain it.

Seeking to play down the recent row over his remarks that people of Goa in general are unhappy with Nigerians, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had on Wednesday said all foreigners, including Nigerians, are welcome in the state which is committed to providing security to everyone.

Prior to that, on May 30, Parsekar had sparked a controversy by saying, "In general, people are angry with Nigerians and not other foreigners. I feel they (Nigerians) have a different attitude."

The CM was then responding to a question on recent allegations of rape against a Nigerian national in Goa and racial attacks in Delhi.