THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Amidst African community outrage, police in Munich have launched investigations into an incident in which two security guards were filmed forcefully removing a man from a metro train.
The man, said to be a 48-year-old Nigerian, was reportedly removed from the train at Leuchtenbergring station. He appeared to have no valid ticket as the inspectors came up to him during the check. They then asked him to show an ID card and pay a €60 fine, according to the reporter Natalija Miletic who filmed the incident. The man, however, only had €9 in cash, which he reportedly needed for food. The inspectors collected the €9, saying he still owed the rest.
Video footage by Miletic, which has been trending online, show the man resisting efforts by Deutsche Bahn guards to eject him from the S-Bahn train.
As the man grips on to handrails inside the carriage, with many commuters looking on, one guard keeps him in a headlock while the other attempts to loosen his grip on the rails and lift up his legs.
The man is not violent towards the guards and does not say anything. At one point he yells out in pain.
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Once dragged off the train the commuter was held down on the platform, with pressure applied to the back of his head.
Miletic objected to the way the man was handled, accusing the Deutsche Bahn personnel of being “racist”. The reporter is heard in the video saying: “This is absolutely not okay what you’re doing. The guy didn’t do anything to you guys. You should be ashamed of yourself.
“This is racist what you’re doing. Why are you doing this? It’s because he’s black.”
The man also says: “Tell me what I did?”
Local media report that a complaint of grievous bodily harm has been lodged with the police.
Both Deutsche Bahn and the police are investigating the incident, calling for witnesses to come forward.
Deutsche Bahn told German media it was “concerned” about the incident and “regretted” the violence seen in the video.
The company says the two guards involved in the incident are currently not doing any control duty.
Meanwhile, members of the African community have been expressing their outrage over the incident with many commentators describing the incident as an indication of the racist abuse which Black people experience in their dealings with some law-enforcement agents.
Felix Dappah
