Tinubu’s Aide Demands Probe Of Nigerian Student’s Killing In Canada

Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Students Engagement, Sunday Asefon, has demanded that the incidents that led to the death of a Nigerian student in Canada be probed.

Naija News recalls that on December 31, 2023, the Winnipeg Police Service in Manitoba, Canada, killed the 19-year-old Stephen Afolabi Opaso, who was studying in the University of Manitoba Canada.

In a statement released on Saturday, Asefon, who called the death “barbaric and heartless,” pleaded with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission to make sure the atrocity is not forgotten.

He said, “The impression in the public as gathered during an interaction with the official National Association of Nigerian Students earlier on the case is that the killing was racially motivated as the demised student was not welding a gun at the time of the incident and that the police officers would have acted differently if he were to be a white.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of NIDCOM should ensure that the incident is not swept under the carpet.

“NANS and the entire Nigerian students should remain calm. We will follow the case up diligently until the Canadian authorities give a true account of the death of the Nigerian Student and compensate his family accordingly to avoid a diplomatic row that may lead to the closure of their embassy in Nigeria by Nigerian student Apex body NANS as earlier threatened if no action is taken by Federal Government of Nigeria within 3 working days.”