Probe is stopped into Nigerian’s death

Zurich cantonal justice authorities have ceased their investigation into the death of a Nigerian man who died during a deportation in March 2010.

The causes of death were natural and internal and were based on two convincing autopsies, a statement said on Friday.

According to medical experts, the 29-year-old was suffering from a serious heart problem, which was aggravated by the stress of the deportation. It is also possible that the man’s pre-deportation hunger strike had played a role in making the heart problem worse, officials added.

Accusations from the man’s family that there had been a neglect of duty by officials during the deportation had not been proven, the statement said.

The family’s lawyer told the Swiss News Agency on Friday that his clients would be lodging an appeal against the decision to stop the probe. They had called for further investigation in July 2011, when the results of the second autopsy were published. Officials had already then announced their intention to stop investigating the matter.

Forced deportation flights out of Switzerland were suspended after the man’s death so that authorities could look into the matter. They resumed to Africa in July 2010 – but not to Nigeria.

The country was added again in July 2011. During the first deportation two Nigerians resisted boarding.