An Italian man who was arrested for killing a Nigerian migrant in an apparent racist attack has been arraigned in court.

Amedeo Mancini appeared in court on Monday morning for the killing of Nigerian migrant, Emmanuel Chidi Nnamdi. He will be tried on charges of manslaughter aggravated by racism.

Nnamdi was beaten to death on Tuesday, July 4th in the small, central Italian town of Fermo.

He was killed defending his wife, Chinyere Emmanuel, who had been verbally abused by two Italians.

She told police that her husband was knocked unconscious by a man wielding a road-sign pole. The racist attack has shocked Italy.

“The assailant continued to kick and punch him even when he was lying on the ground,” said priest Vinicio Albanesi, who had offered the couple shelter in a nearby centre that is home to more than 100 migrants and asylum seekers.

On Sunday, Nnamdi, 36 was buried.

The attack has further fuelled political debate on the long-running immigration crisis.

Italy has been on the frontline of Europe’s immigration crisis.

About 170,000 migrants reached Italy by sea in 2014 and 153,800 came in 2015. So far this year, more than 75,000 migrants have arrived, the vast majority of them Africans.

Many have moved swiftly on to wealthier countries in northern Europe, but tightening border controls mean increasing numbers are remaining in Italy and are being sent to reception centres around the country.

The pair came to Italy last year on a boat from Libya after escaping an attack on their church in Nigeria by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Their child and both their parents died in that assault, friends told Italian media.

•Source: News Agencies. Photo shows murdered Nigerian migrant Emmanuel Chidi Nnamdi with wife Chinyere.