Nigeria mission in Italy vows to get justice for murdered Rita Amenze

The Nigerian Mission and Unions in Italy, Monday, vowed to get justice for late Rita Amenze, the Nigerian lady who was allegedly killed by her Italian husband on September 10 in Italy.

Pastor Mike Oputteh, the Welfare Officer, National Union of Nigerian Association in Italy (NUNAI) disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

Oputteh said the Nigerian Embassy in Italy, headed by Amb. Mfawa Abam, and the Unions have been very proactive on the issue which led to the arrest of late Amenze’s Italian husband.

He said the prompt action of the Nigerian Mission and leadership of the Unions had made the Italian authority realise that Nigeria cares for her citizens. 

“I am the Welfare Officer and when I first heard the news, I called the leader in that region, Noventa Vicentina. I told him to go and get a firsthand report on the incident, down to the police which he did.

“We got there on a Saturday, as at then, the husband had not been arrested. The police said the person in charge of the case was not around and that was when I got angry.

“When he saw my reaction, he realised the gravity. Because they had always seen Nigerians in that area like people the government does not care about.

“I told them my Embassy was aware of the case and my ambassador sent me here to find out, it was at that point they rose to the occasion. That was when they said this is what happened, that the girl filed for divorce.

“I said I do not want to hear it, that I am interested in the husband, leave what happened, because there is no amount of justification that will allow anybody to take anyone’s life.

“It was then, the man was arrested the next day. The question is, does it mean that they did not want to work before and were waiting for us to react before they worked?

“So, the Embassy rose up, the unions rose up also and other Italian NGOs and Civil Societies came up to say they will not take it. The man was arrested the next day, even inside his house.

“I told the police that the next phase is that we will follow the case. This new NUNAI Executive led by our President, Roland Ndukuba and our Ambassador are leaving no stone unturned in this particular case,” he assured.