According to a report by China News, the Nigerian man, whose name was not disclosed in the report, deliberately sought Chinese women as girlfriends and lured them to help him smuggle drugs by mailing packages of drugs abroad, the report said.

In order to further reduce police suspicion, the drug dealer would ask his girlfriend to send a package from Zhuhai instead of Guangzhou where he lives.

The Nigerian man was arrested after police officers at Gongbei Customs Department seized a mail package containing more than 600 grams of crystal meth sent from Zhuhai to Malaysia in January this year. After a two month investigation, the couple was arrested at an apartment they shared in Baiyuan district in Guangzhou on March 18.

This, however, is not the first time a drug dealer used Chinese girlfriends to cover his drug trail. In 2006, a Nigerian man in Guangzhou was sentenced to death for dealing drugs. His Chinese girlfriend also received a death penalty with a two-year reprieve for assisting the illegal trade, China Daily reported in 2006.

Home page photo credit: CBC

Sina is reporting there were six robberies last week targeting taxi drivers in Foshan’s Nanhai District, all of which were alleged to have been committed by Nigerian expatriates. The robberies totaled RMB11,000 in value, according to the Guangzhou Daily.  So far one of the suspects, a 33-year old Nigerian man, has been arrested.

It’s believed the spree of robberies began on June 12.  In the early morning that day, a taxi driver, Ah Long, drove two African passengers to Guangfo Trade Mart. After they arrived at the destination, the two passengers asked Ah Long to help them open the trunk to retrieve their luggage. When he did so, one passenger grabbed him by the neck while the other threatened him with a knife, ordering Ah Long to turn over his belongings.  They are alleged to have taken RMB4,020 worth of property from Ah Long before fleeing.

Just one week later, local police received reports of several robberies from taxi drivers who described a similar scene, with losses adding up to RMB11,000 in total.

According to captured surveillance video, the police identified the suspects as two tall black men who spoke fluent Mandarin, probably between the ages of 25 and 30.  They tended to act late at night, often getting taxis from around Huangqi Road and alighting near Dali Lingnan crossroad.

Police finally had a breakthrough on June 18, when a taxi carrying two black passengers caught the attention of policemen who were staking out the targeted area.  After following the taxi all the way to its destination, the police spotted one passenger getting out of the car and looking around.  The police the swarmed and took the man down, seizing a sizable blade the man was carrying. Unfortunately for police, the other man was able to run away.

The man who was caught, Onwuatu, was identified as one of the two suspects by Ah Long.  Police are still looking for the second suspect.

Since our initial report, more details have come to light.  It appears to have started when a Nigerian man was asked to pay an additional fare to a moped driver after reaching his destination.  The Global Times reports this:

“The dispute between the foreign man and the driver surnamed Sun over the fare happened at around 1 pm Monday on Guangyuan Road West in the city’s Yuexiu district,” Guangzhou police said on its official Weibo Tuesday.

“They were taken to the police station for investigation, but the foreigner suddenly fell into a coma at around 5 pm and died after receiving medical treatment at the station,” said the police, adding that an initial medical report shows no obvious bodily injuries.

At 3 pm Tuesday, the foreigners gathered at the Kuangquan police station, where the Nigerian man had died, blocking the streets to traffic.

Naturally, we’re hearing a slightly different version of events.

According to Matouvu, a 26-year old Nigerian who lives in the Sanyuanli area, the initial altercation between the moped driver and Nigerian man was in the wee hours of yesterday (June 19) morning.  She said when she arrived at her office around 8 o’clock yesterday morning, police cars remained around the area where the altercation had taken place.  ”I called to find out what was going on, and they said one man had died from a beating,” she said.

According to what Matouvu has heard, which we cannot verify, the Chinese moped driver asked the Nigerian man to pay RMB5, which the man claimed not to have.  It’s not clear if the RMB5 was part of the originally-agreed fare, or an additional charge.  Regardless, when the Nigerian man refused to pay, the Chinese moped driver notified his friends to help pressure the Nigerian man.  At some point, the altercation escalated, and many believe he was eventually beaten to death.

Matouvu said news of the man’s death spread quickly, and by the afternoon many in the Nigerian community wanted the police to do something about it.  That’s when crowds began to gather outside of the police station.  ”I got there around 11,” Matouvu said. “There were maybe 50 Nigerians and five police cars.  At that time, everything was normal.”

“Chaos started at about 1pm,” she continued.  ”Nigerians were in the middle of the road.  No cars were allowed to pass.  Everything came to a standstill,” she said.  She also noted shops along Gongyuan West Road closed down.

The crowds swelled shortly thereafter, and that’s when things deteriorated.  ”Chinese people were very big; they had huge sticks,” she said.  ”At first it was peaceful, police were trying to make peace.  I don’t know what exactly started the fighting.  I could see bottles breaking and being thrown.”

She doesn’t know if anyone was severely hurt in the melee, but said word is circulating in the Nigerian community that two police officers were badly injured.

There are rumours that the Nigerian ambassador is en route to Guangzhou to quell some of the anger, and another demonstration could be planned for later.

“I don’t feel safe,” Moutava said. “It’s the responsibility of the Chinese to protect foreigners, right?  What’s the point of being here if we can’t be safe?”

Judging by the online reaction to yesterday’s protest, things may be getting worse.  Several  Chinese netizens have lashed out at the African community in Guangzhou, with several calling on them to be sent home.

The Nanfang translated a few of the comments circulating on Sina Weibo:

Letour: The Guangzhou Public Security Bureau should implement a measure, drive out all illegal foreigners.

Chongqing taxi booking: Chinese and foreigners are equal, and it’s the same when they’re dead. Deal with this normally.

Qingqing Ruwu: Whichever country you’re in, you need to respect the local laws and customs, since an illegal immigrant used public transport without paying and got into a fight, a government institution should intervene, otherwise this kind of thing will become commonplace, and it will be too late to do anything about it. I don’t want to be surrounded by these kinds of people.

Wenting 1588: Our African brothers are poor, but they must respect the law.

Tungu yihao: Police comrades, pay attention to the threat of AIDS. I have never felt such antipathy to foreigners as now.

Shawu zhixing: Send all of these laowai to jail for a few days.

Life isn’t always easy for them in Guangzhou, which has been nicknamed “Chocolate City“.  There has even been some friction between Nigerians and the local police department, particularly after a Nigerian man allegedly jumped to his death after being cornered by police in 2009.

Still, people from Nigeria are flooding into Guangzhou because of its opportunities.  And with so many here, wouldn’t it make sense for Nigeria to have a consulate in the city?  Many Nigerians think so.

Right now, Nigerians who need assistance ranging from consular protection to help with procuring residency papers have to go through the embassy in Beijing.  That’s a three hour flight north, and doesn’t make a lot of sense.

One Nigerian businessman in Guangzhou, Festus Uzoma Mbisiogu, makes a strong case for a southern-based consulate:

“Most times, our people here face challenges on visa issuance because there is no consular office to educate them on how to go about it. I strongly believe that if Nigerian authorities see the need to establish a consular office in this area, Guangzhou authorities may adjust their policy on issuance of visa and they will  relate with visa applicants in times of emergency. This measure, if taken, will also reduce the problems of illegal immigrants, as most of the problems of illegal migrants arise from the absence of a consular office.

“Too many Nigerians find it difficult to process their visas or office documents because many are referred to Beijing or Nigeria for ratification. This measure often exposed Nigerians to untold hardship.”

The article in The Nation also points out that hundreds of Nigerians are believed to be languishing in prisons in China for minor offenses, possibly partially because of a lack of consular assistance.

To date, Nigeria has no plans to open a Guangzhou consulate.  In fact, as far as we know, no African countries are represented in the City of Five Rams.