Fury in Italy after asylum seeker killed in hate attack

Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, 36, was walking with his wife in the Marche town of Fermo on Tuesday, when they had racial abuse heaped on them by the supporter of a local football club, according to Italian media reports.

The football hooligan, known as ultras in Italy, allegedly called his 24-year-old wife a "monkey".

That led to an altercation and Chidi was brutally beaten on the head until he fell to the ground. He never recovered consciousness and died in hospital on Wednesday.

"As mayor of a town that is welcoming and open to integration, I feel I'm living in a nightmare," the town's mayor said.

The couple arrived in Italy last year after escaping an attack by the Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram, at a church in Nigeria in which members of their family died.

His wife lost her baby after a perilous Mediterranean crossing.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi took to Twitter on Wednesday night to condemn “hatred, racism and violence”. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano is expected to attend a memorial service in Fermo on Thursday.

Laura Boldrini, president of the chamber of deputies, spoke of her “dismay” and “outrage” on hearing the news that “a man who escaped the ferocity of Boko Haram terrorists in his country was killed, here in Italy, because of hatred, racism and xenophobia".

The couple had been living in the area for eight months and was lodged in a shelter run by Catholic charity Caritas.