Sunday Asefon, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Students Engagement has registered his displeasure over the murder of Afolabi Stephen Opaso, a Nigerian who was studying at the University of Manitoba, Canada.
In a recent statement in Abuja, Asefon described the killing as barbaric, cruel and heartless.
He promised to engage the High Commission of Canada in Nigeria, and further liaise with Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of NiDCOM to ensure that the unfortunate murder was not swept under the carpet.
Recall that the late Afolabi Stephen Opaso, a 19-year-old Nigerian international student in Canada, was shot dead by the Winnipeg Police Service in Manitoba on December 31, 2023.
Police alleged that the deceased wielded a knife at the time of the encounter and had mental health crisis at the time of the incident.
The Winnipeg police in their statement, acknowledged that there was a confrontation with an armed male but provided limited details.
A police statement read: “On Dec. 31, 2023, at approximately 2:22 p.m., the Winnipeg police service responded to an apartment suite in the first 100 block of University Crescent for a 911 call regarding a male acting erratically.
“The caller advised that the male may be armed and there were other people in the suite.
“During this encounter, an officer discharged their firearm, striking the male. Officers provided immediate medical care and ensured the well-being of all other parties on scene. Nobody else was injured.
“The male was transported to hospital in critical condition and succumbed to his injuries.”
Asefon revealed that the impression in the public as gathered while interacting with officials of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) about the case that the killing was racially motivated.
He said Afolabi did not wield a gun at the time of the incident and that the police officers would have acted differently if he were to be a white man.
He however appealed to NANS and the entire Nigerian students to stay calm and pledged to be on top of the case till the Canadian authorities give true account of the death of the Nigerian student.
He said his office would also ensure that Afolabi’s family was compensated accordingly, to avoid a diplomatic row that might lead to shutting down their embassy in Nigeria by NANS as earlier threatened.
He urged Nigerian students in Canada to remain peaceful as his office would ensure that the deceased gets justice.
