Residents of Venice Hill condominium in Batu 9 Cheras, Selangor are living in fear following a riot which broke out last Saturday afternoon involving about 200 Africans.

According to Bernama , the riot was triggered by Rela personnel who had allegedly beaten a Nigerian student Onochie Martins Nwankwo to death after he was accused of molesting a local woman.

NONE The chairperson of the condo’s joint management committee VK Raj told Malaysiakini that the office was closed.

"The property manager reported to me that some African residents were congregating just outside the management office.

“They were giving stares or something like that. However, nothing happened but the (condo) workers were obviously frightened because of the riots, so they were given rest of the day off.

“They will be reporting back to work (today),” Raj said.

A local resident, who declined to be named, told Malaysiakini that local residents started having problems with the African residents in 2003 when they first moved in.

NONE Their problems worsened over the years and so the condo management office bolstered its security with Rela members since December.

“We are living in fear. We are concerned over our safety,” said the resident.

“We don’t hate them (African residents) for being black, but we hate them for the things they do,” she added.

    

Raj revealed that his cleaning staff had often complained of sexual harassment by some of the African residents, but stressed that not all the African residents were implicated in the wrongdoing.

  Photos of damage caused by rioters

“Since the Rela came in, we have had some order in this place because at night, loitering (around the premises) is no longer allowed, (and) no more public drunkenness.

"Rela has been doing a good job.”

NONE Malaysiakini was also shown purported photographs of the damage caused by the rioters, which included the guardhouse, the CCTV system, the security office and the condo gates.

The photos show many broken glass windows strewn on the ground and the security office in disarray.

Some potted plants lay broken on a driveway, a broken fan on the floor and the condo’s gate completely removed from its post.

According to another resident who witnessed the Saturday riot, the Africans were armed and chased off the first few police officers who arrived at the scene.

He added several senior police officers backed by reinforcements arrived later to negotiate with a Malaysian claiming to be a lawyer representing the rioters.

NONE The resident claimed that after several rounds of negotiations, the rioters agreed to disperse.

The Kajang OCPD Abdul Rashid Abdul Wahab arrived later and held a press conference where he allegedly denied that a riot had occurred at the condo.

The Malay-language daily Sinar Harian yesterday quoted the Selangor police chief Hisan Hamzah as saying the police had the situation under control.

More police officers have been deployed in the area and seven Rela officers have been remanded to facilitate investigations into the death of the Nigerian student.

However the resident was unimpressed, saying that she did not feel safe despite the increased police presence.