Congress leader and former Goa Chief Minister Ravi Naik today said the Centre should "ban" Nigerians from entering India as they "create trouble" in the country, the latest in controversial comments by politicians from the state on people from the African nation.
Allegedly using a racially insulting term, Naik said, "The government of India should ban them (Nigerians)."
"They should be probed and it should be checked whether many of them are here to study or for picnics or to sell drugs," Naik said, adding they "create trouble" in the country.
The Congress leader, during a press meet, alleged that Nigerian nationals stay in the country and "indulge in illegal activities".
"Nigerians come here and get involved in ruckus. Look at the cases in Bengaluru and Delhi (which reported incidents related to Nigerian nationals). Do they come here for studying?" he asked.
He also demanded that the "bogus" educational institutes, which give them admission, should be probed by the law enforcement agencies.
The Congress leader's controversial statements comes days after similar remarks about the Nigerian nationals made by Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and his Cabinet colleague Dilip Parulekar.
Parsekar had termed Nigerians as "annoying" and having "different attitude". He had later said that his statement was distorted and taken out of context by a section of media.
State Tourism Minister Parulekar had said, "the problems of Nigerians are not only in Goa, but across the country. They (Nigerians) come here to study but create problems. People were not happy with Nigerians."
The comments by Parsekar and Parulekar, both of BJP, were made in the wake of attacks on Africans in New Delhi last month.
