Brutal murder took place in broad daylight in Civitanova Marche.

A 39-year-old Nigerian man was beaten to death on the street in Civitanova Marche, a seaside town in Italy's central Marche region, on Friday 29 July.

Alika Ogorchukwu, who made his living as a street vendor, was beaten on the head with his own crutch after reportedly complimenting the female companion of the man who killed him.

The alleged attacker, a 32-year-old Italian man from the Campania region around Naples, is in police custody.

The murder occurred at lunchtime on a busy street in front of shocked onlookers, some of whom filmed the attack with their cell phones.

In footage of the murder, a voice is heard shouting "You will kill him", however nobody intervened to help.

The attacker reportedly used his knee to crush Ogorchukwu's head to the ground, before fleeing the scene after stealing the victim's phone.

Ogorchukwu, who was married with one child, was well known in the town and was described by local residents as "never a problem, a good man".

His killing recalls the murder of another Nigerian man in a racially-motivated attack in the nearby Marche town of Fermo in 2016.

Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, 36, was killed after coming to the defence of his wife who had been called an "African monkey" by an Italian right-wing football hooligan.

In 2018 an Italian man with extreme right-wing views shot and wounded six African migrants, including two Nigerians, in a racially motivated attack in Macerata, about 40 km away from Civitanova Marche.

The shooter, Luca Traini, is currently serving 12 years in jail.

Photo La Stampa