A fresh move is on between the government of Nigeria and that of South African to address Xenophobic attacks against Nigerians living in South Africa
BusinessDay gathered weekend that arrangements have been concluded by both countries to sign a Peace Agreement to address the spate of xenophobic attacks against innocent Nigerian citizens residing in South Africa.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President (SSA-P) on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, stated this in an exclusive chat with BusinessDay weekend, in Abuja.
She revealed that the Federal Government has also called for the review of Early Warning Signal (EWS), as part of measures to avert further xenophobic attacks.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who spoke through one of her aides, Abdulr-Rahman Balogun, told BusinessDay, in Abuja, that the ” Peace” document to be signed soon, is expected to address the issues of protection for Nigerians as part of the “Early Warning” arrangement.
“there is a peace document that the two countries are going to sign, in order to address the spate of attacks , adding that the Federal Government has called for a review of the document”
According to him, “So far, we working on getting the accurate number of Nigerians who have died as a result of the various attacks by South Africans but in over 2 years over 110 Nigerians have been killed in series of attacks.
“What this administration is doing majorly is to appeal to the government of South Africa that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to book. Most of those killings were extra judicial killings and we want them to be brought to justice”.
In the last two years over 100 Nigerians have been killed as a result of Xenophobic attacks by South Africans.
South Africans usually accused Nigerians of stealing their jobs, selling illegal drugs, the South Africans fell frustrated because of the success Nigerians are making in their fields, and failure of the South African police to protect foreigners.
It is estimated that over 800,000 Nigerians, mostly young people, presently reside in South Africa.
These attacks of Nigerians and other foreigners are mostly common in Gauteng, Limpopo, Western Cape, Kwazulu Natal and free State. And it was alleged that whenever such attacks starts those Nigerians residing in white dominated areas are always safe as the natives in these areas hardly participate in the attacks.
Director, Center for China Studies, Charles Onunaiju, wh0 spoke to Businessday, said Nigerians should ensure they obey the constitutions of their host countries, once they do this, they won’t get into trouble.
He suggested that the Federal Government should strengthen the bilateral relationship with South Africa.
He blamed Nigerians migration to other nations to the bad economy in the country but adding that this is not an excuse for the attacks.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian community in South Africa, a few days ago announced the attack of Clement Nwaogu, that was burnt alive by a mob in the latest xenophobia attack . The victim was murdered in cold blood over his accent and habit, which the mobsters supposedly found offensive.
LAIDE AKINBOADE
