South African police said on Friday that they were on high alert monitoring the violence that erupted earlier in the week in some parts of the country leading to the death of foreigners and destructio
n of their property.
Mawela added, “We must work together to make sure that no one gets to undermine the authority of the State and together condemn the violence and criminality, towards ensuring the safety of everyone in the province.” “The general public is hereby advised to inform their relatives in South Africa to take advantage of this laudable gesture.”Our police did nothing to stop xenophobic attacks – Coordinator, South African women married to Nigerians
The special envoy, Ahmed Abubakar, who is the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, was said to have arrived in the OR Tambo Airport on Thursday evening and was scheduled to meet with President Cyril Ramophosa in Pretoria on Friday to express Nigeria’s displeasure at the treatment meted out to Nigerians to the host President during the meeting.
He said, “The Air Peace flight to South Africa will take off from the Lagos Airport and also return to Lagos. As earlier stated, the take-off could be September 9 or 10. Ezeano said Nigerians wishing to return to Nigeria lamented that they felt unsafe and would rather leave the country, coupled with their accommodation challenges.
He stated, “Some people are actually saying they won’t leave until the government gives them something, but a lot of people are willing to come back, it’s just that some of them said they were coming from far locations and driving to Johannesburg may take like seven to eight hours.”Meanwhile, some Nigerians in South Africa have said they won’t take Federal Government’s offer to return home despite the threat to their lives and attacks on their businesses.
“I have gone to the police to make a report and they have compiled the complaints but that is the only thing they know how to do – to compile losses. What they do with their compilation is what I don’t know. He, therefore, appealed to the Nigerian government to force the South African government to pay compensation to all of them who suffered losses, saying he might seek legal advice on the issue.
He added, “I escaped being attacked because I got information that they were coming to attack us and so I ran to the club to shut it but before I got there they had set it ablaze so I ran back. I don’t sell drugs. I even employed South Africans who work in my club. “But if I leave here for Lagos, I don’t even have transport fare from the airport to Benin where my family members are,” he added. “If our government can insist that South Africa should pay us compensation, I will be happy.
Another Nigerian, who runs a salon in South Africa, Mr Elisha Mbah, said he might not consider coming back home given the situation of things in Nigeria. He added, “I have children here. Where do I start from? If I must go back home, they would give me a job and help me to resettle. I mean there must be something they would do for me to start life with.”
Another Nigerian victim of the attacks who is confined to a wheelchair, Mojeed Kuku, said he and his family would have South Africa but for the situation back home. “During the recent attack, in my workshop, the attackers burnt two vehicles and we had to run to save our lives. We went somewhere and watched them destroying our property.
While commending the actions so far taken by the Federal Government, he said the President should direct the Ministry of Health to assist the bereaved families in expediting the return of their loved ones who had lost their lives in the unfortunate events. Gbajabiamila stressed that the House was ready to authorise funding “for those citizens who wish to take legal action against identified perpetrators of the violence as well as those who sponsored them or permitted their actions to occur and to continue.”
A member of the House, Mr Kingsley Chinda, had in a message to our correspondent on Tuesday called on the National Assembly to reconvene for two days and condemn the alleged refusal by the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa to protect citizens running to it for safety.Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met behind closed doors with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President, NUSA, Adetola Olubajo, said although there was no official figure of Nigerians living in South Africa, the number would not be less than 800,000. “Any reasonable person that wants to say the truth will tell you that Nigerians are doing well and making us proud. It is those few bad eggs that are being projected in the news.”Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has said that Nigeria will not sever diplomatic ties with South Africa following the current xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.
He said the leader of the President’s special envoy to South Africa should be back on Saturday , noting that the feedback would give the government the basis for further action.
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