Indian lecturer found dead in Nigeria

An Indian lecturer was found dead in southern Nigeria's Benin City after he had gone for a trek, and is suspected to have died of exhaustion.

The body of Balvant Rai, who was in his 50s, was found on Wednesday morning lying face down near a golf club with minor bruises.

His umbrella was found beside him. Police are conducting an autopsy to ascertain the cause of death of the lecturer at the Department of Petroleum Engineering at the high profile University of Benin.

"There was no bullet mark and no facts of strangulation yet but we are waiting for the result of the (autopsy) report," University spokesman Osaze Osarnren said.

Rai had been residing in Nigeria for over 30 years. Local newspaper Vanguard reported that the back pocket of the lecturer was turned out, which indicated that some hoodlums may have searched his pockets and taken away his cell phone.

Residents of the area said the Indian national hardly used a vehicle and preferred trekking.

The Nigerian government started hiring a large number of Indian teachers and other experts in the 1970s.

Towards the end of the 80s, many of them returned to India but some decided remain in the oil rich African country.

At present, it is estimated that there are 17,000 Indian expatriates in the country, with some of them owning industries. Outside the federal government, Indian companies are the highest employers of labour.