The Federal Government on Monday declared that it is displeased with the South African government’s failure to respond firmly enough to the renewed wave of xenophobic attacks targeting Nigerian nationals, warning that retaliatory diplomatic gestures, including a review of bilateral privileges, were being actively considered and were not off the table.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who briefed State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also rejected outright claims by some South African authorities that the Nigerians under attack were illegal migrants.
She argued that Nigerian passport holders were being harassed, having their shops looted and set ablaze, and that their children were being intimidated in schools, all while South African police looked on.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said, “Our citizens are being harassed. Our citizens’ properties are being looted. Criminal actions are being perpetrated, and the police refuse to do anything. The South African government has not come out strongly and firmly enough to condemn these incidents.
“To say that Nigerians who are in South Africa doing legitimate business are illegal migrants is absolutely untrue. People who are doing legitimate business have their shops looted, their shops set on fire. Children cannot go to school because they are intimidated in their schools.”
The minister cited Nigeria’s historical sacrifice for South Africa’s freedom, a sacrifice she argued makes the current treatment of Nigerians especially painful and unacceptable.
“Nigeria is not happy with South Africa. Nigeria sacrificed much for the South African struggle for independence. Nigeria committed funds, committed resources. In schools, seats were reserved for South African students.
