Fermo, July 7 - Police on Thursday detained Amedeo Mancini in connection with the beating death of Nigerian asylum seeker Emmanuel Chidi Namdi on July 5. Investigators said Namdi was defending his partner from racial insults by Mancini. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano is attending a provincial meeting of the ministry's National Committee for Public Safety (CNOSP) at the Fermo Prefecture on Thursday. Investigators said Mancini, an ultra fan of local soccer club Fermana, on Tuesday called Namdi's companion Chinyery, 24, an "African monkey" and pulled her, to which Namdi allegedly retaliated by ripping a road-sign pole out of the ground and beating Mancini to the ground with it. They said Mancini got up from the ground and punched Namdi, who fell to the ground, hitting his head. Namdi fell into an irreversible coma and was taken to hospital, where he died one day later. Investigators said there were three eyewitnesses at the scene, as well as a friend of Mancini's. Namdi and his live-in companion had been at the Fermo bishop's seminary since September after fleeing Boko Haram violence in Nigeria. A local priest, Father Vinicio Albanesi, said the attack was probably linked to four bombs recently planted outside Fermo churches that have worked with migrants. The bombs, which caused little damage and hurt no one, were left outside the churches including the Duomo between February and May.