The Nigerian community in the Kempton Park area of Johannesburg has met with the South African police and the Police Investigating Directorate over the death of 33-year-old Nigerian, Daniel Chinedu Timothy last Saturday.
The meeting was at West Street where the deceased hung out mostly at his shop. The tense meeting was a mixed bag of appeals, reassurances and pleas.
The meeting got rowdy when the first part ended without the people being allowed to directly put their questions regarding alleged continued police harassment, to the police top officers that were present.
Many Nigerians at the meeting did not take it kindly when their own leaders ruled out the possibility of asking direct questions from the police.
They also raised the vital issue of eyewitnesses saying what they saw. They expressed fear about the safety of witnesses.
The Nigerian Union leadership managed to calm the people down, assuring them that they would be following up with the case until justice is served.
Chinedu Daniel Timothy died in police custody and was alleged to have swallowed drugs he was peddling but some eyewitnesses dispute this, saying that he was tortured to death by the police when he refused to pay a bribe.
