Goan village bans renting rooms to Nigerian students

A Goan village, popular with Nigerians until recently, Tuesday resolved not to allow home-owners to lease rooms to Nigerians with student visas.

Speaking to reporters after passing the resolution at a specially convened meeting of panchayat, the sarpanch of Parra village, Delilah Lobo, said the decision was taken in order to "save" the village from Nigerians, most of whom she claimed "lived in Goa on fake papers and dealt in drugs".

"We do not want them here. They have caused us a lot of nuisance," said Delilah, wife of Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Michael Lobo.

A murder of a Nigerian Thursday in Parra, 15 km from Panaji, allegedly by a rival drug gang triggered riot-like situation with over 200 Nigerians taking on people as well as the police as they blocked the National Highway-17 demanding consular presence during the post-mortem examination of their compatriot.

The incident triggered a knee-jerk reaction from the state government, which initiated a drive against all foreigners living in Goa on inadequate documents.

A Nigerian diplomat has already warned that targeting Nigerians and evicting them from rented homes in Goa would attract retribution on Indians living in Nigeria.