by ‘Jola Sotubo

A number of Nigerians being detained in India have protested against officials in the country for delaying their deportation process.

The Nigerians, numbering about 20, caused a ruckus at the Trichy Central Prison where they were being held.

The prisoners, who were locked up for their involvement in a fake money printing operation, were said to have locked up 3 prison officials in a bid to register their annoyance.

The Telegraph reports:

According to media reports from India, the Nigerians were on December 27 transferred from Puzhal Prison in Chennai to the central prison where only foreign nationals are kept.

Reports claimed the Nigerians had constantly complained about the poor facilities of the detention centre. However, on Saturday, the Nigerians took matters into their hands when they grabbed the officials who came to the prison to lodge a Malaysian citizen.

They asked for the intervention of Indian higher authorities to speed up their deportation and only released the officials when deputy commissioner of police (law and order) Abhinav Kumar and assistant commissioner of police (law and order), along with other police officials held talks with them.

Currently, most of the overseas detenus at the Trichy central prison are Sri Lankans and Nigerians. The Sri Lankans were caught during their futile bid to escape to Australia from the Indian coast.

Reports said the deportation was delayed since cases are still pending against eight Nigerians.

All the 20 people will be deported together, police officials said.