Frankfurt - An Eritrean man appeared in court in Frankfurt Wednesday on a manslaughter charge in connection with the death of a Nigerian man, in a case that has grabbed headlines in Germany.

The 35-year Eritrean admitted that he stabbed the 21-year-old Emeka Okoronkwo in the early hours of May 2 last year, but argued that he had acted in self-defence.

Prosecutors said the victim had intervened to protect two women from the Eritrean’s advances on a street in Frankfurt when a fight broke out, in which the accused had taken a ‘targeted stab at the heart region.’

The accused told the court the knife belonged to Okoronkwo, but fell to the ground as the men fought. He told the court that he picked it up and stabbed at his victim out of self-defence.

‘I am not a murderer, I didn’t want to kill anyone,’ he sobbed.

The case has been widely publicized in Germany, where it is being compared with that of Dominik Brunner, a 50-year-old who died in 2009 after two teenagers attacked him for intervening as they harried younger children on a suburban train in Munich.

The hearing is set to resume on February 22.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Police in Germany has reconstructed the final moments of Emeka Okornkwo, who was stabbed to death by two men from Eritrea last weekend.

Detectives investigating the case said that the incident took place when two women left a night club early Sunday morning to catch a train at a nearby station in Frankfurt. The 29- year- old and 43- year-old females were waiting for their train when they were approached by two Eritreans who verbally harassed them demanding sex.

As the verbal assaults got worse, one of the Eritreans started spitting at the females. This is when Nigerian Emeka Okornkwo came to the women’s aid walking up between the victims and their attackers. After a short fight one of the Eritreans pulled out a knife and stabbed the Nigerian aiming at the left side of his chest.

The Nigerian collapsed immediately and died later in Hospital from the knife wounds to his heart. Last Thursday police arrested a 34-year-old Eritrean who is supposed to be the stabber. His 24-year-old companion was freed as no charges had been filed against him.