A 30-year-old Nigerian has died in a hospital after being discovered bedridden and malnourished by police in a house in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
A Nigerian activist who is based in India identified the dead Nigerian as auto parts dealer Michael Emenike Madueke by name. The activist alleged that he was locked up and starved by his landlord for eight months over non-payment of rent.
Indian police revealed they have not yet discovered evidence to back up the allegation. No external injuries were detected by a doctor that first attended to him.
A policeman from Nandgram police station said that they received a call on the emergency number 112 recently.
He said: “He was living with the family of one Rahul in this flat for three months. The door was not locked when we arrived… His friend Charles Kennedy of Greater Noida and a few other Nigerians were present, and he took him to hospital with our assistance. There is no FIR.”
The Nigerian Citizens Welfare Association, a group Nigerians in India headed by Kennedy, recorded videos of the “rescue” at the house.
The video reveals Michael’s skin sticking to his shoulder bones while he said: “He wants more money every day.”
Also, a man who lives in the house is seen talkinget to police in Hindi: “We fed him, what else do you want? Talk to his friend Rahul Chauhan.”
A woman is seen crying and saying: “Hamne kuchh nahi kiya (We did not do anything).”
The police officer added: “Michael did not show us his passport or its soft copy. He said that it has gone for renewal…. Rahul is at fault as he did not inform police that he sheltered a foreign national. The local intelligence unit (of Ghaziabad police) is verifying his passport and these other details… Rahul is also a tenant.”
The officer said the police wondered if the deceased went into hiding as his passport had expired but Kennedy said the passport might have been “held as ransom.”
While talking to the newsmen, Rajeev Tyagi, the Medical Director of Ghaziabad’s Apex Multi Specialty Hospital that first attended to Michael said: “He was unable to move both legs properly. He was not even able to move himself from the stretcher to the bed…. It seemed like a neurological disorder such as GuillainBarré syndrome (in which the immune system mistakenly attacks nerves located outside the brain and spinal cord).
“He needed a CT scan or MRI…. He was having edema (fluid retention) in his legs and looking quite malnourished. Either he was not eating properly or not taking a balanced diet. I asked Michael when he had his last meal. He replied that last night he had chicken and rice.
“There was no sign of assault. Neither did he (Michael) talk of anything like that.”
Tyagi said that he recommended that Michael be moved to an advanced hospital with equipment to treat neurological disorders.
He said: “Charles said that his family is in Mehrauli (south Delhi), and he should be referred to Medics Clinic over there. I said that he is not in a position to be treated in a clinic and he needs a super specialty hospital. He said that if the clinic recommends, then Michael could be moved to AIIMS or Safdarjung (Hospital)… We arranged an ambulance with oxygen. The driver told me that the patient had a cardiac arrest after 15 minutes after reaching after reaching Medics Clinic and expired…. Somebody from Medics Clinic said to shift him to AIIMS mortuary. Two (UP) policemen were in the ambulance.”
The emergency department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ report recorded “MICHEAL” (sic) a 30 years old male, ‘BROUGHT DEAD, PENDING INVESTIGATION” at 8.08 pm.
No response was gotten from Raul’s phone number given by Kennedy.
Kennedy revealed the family of Michael in Nigeria had sent Rs 42,000 in two instalments to Rahul and that the amount of money Michael owed Rahul was unknown.
Kennedy said: “We have not filed a formal police complaint yet as we are waiting for what his family and the Nigerian High Commission tell us.”
