The Nation Newspaper

Category: Special Report

  • We watched helplessly as bandits killed our kinsmen, torched our houses

    After a long period of relative peace in southern part of Kaduna State, bandits on Thursday last week, attempted wiping out Zangang village in Kaura local government. Seven persons were reported killed during the attack, while several houses were torched. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE brings the sad accounts of survivors.

    “I heard gunshots. I rushed towards the scene. I saw tens of gunmen, shooting every living soul around. Only then I realised how curiously stupid I was.” Those were the words of Emmanuel Kushwai.

    Kushwai is not just a member of the attacked Zangan community. He is the Head of the village’s vigilante group. But, like the proverbial bulldog, himself and the entire team of security men he commands are toothless. Worse than the bulldog that at least barks, the security watched their attackers with fear of raising alarm.

    According to him, goverment had in the heat of crises in southern Kaduna stopped all vigilante groups from carrying arms. “So, our work is now more of surveillance. When we see anything or observe any suspicious movement, we report to the authority.” He said.

    Narrating the incident, Kushwai said, “Around 4:30 in the evening of Thursday 29th August, 2019, I was in the village, when I heard gunshots. As the head of security, I rushed towards the scene, then I saw many gunmen, shooting every living soul around.

    “Then, I suddenly realized how stupid I was in my curiosity. I was carried away by my position as a security man and the spirit of defending my people, not realizing that, I didn’t have what it takes to confront the attackers.

    “We are the community vigilantes, but we don’t have guns, government stopped us from using guns. What we do is that, whenever we see anything, we inform the Police and wait for the police to take action.

    “From my hiding, I saw the attackers bearing AK47 rifles. They were many in number. By my estimation, they were up to 100. They were actually on their way to to the village, so they met some people in the farm and opened fire at them. Some of the farmers escaped.

    “I saw as they fired at our defenceless brothers, but I could not do anything but just hide. All of a sudden, I decided to take another route to the community to alert the people of the coming danger.

    “By the time I arrived the community, some of the farmers who escaped from the farm had arrived the village too. So, we asked people to quickly leave the community. You know, like I told you, we don’t have guns to retaliate.

    “That was how everyone quickly left the village. Women and children were quickly taken to the neighbouring communities. But, some of us went into hiding, to study the movement of the attackers.

    “When they entered the community, they opened fire again, shooting at buildings. They were obviously disappointing that, they did not meet people in the village. Then, they started burning houses. They did not even spare the church and the hospital.” He said.

    Another resident of the village

    Benjamin Bala told Saturday Nation that, the attackers were ruthless and were not prepared to spare anyone if they had met them in the village.

    According to him, “Our saving grace was that, we heard the gunshots before they could enter the village. So, as we heard gunshots, we sensed trouble, then, we started evacuating the women and children. After that, we went to hide too to see what exactly the attackers were up to.

    “When they entered our village, they were close to 100, almost all of them carrying guns, while few of them carried machete and swords. So, if not that we heard gunshots, they would have rounded us up and wiped out the entire village.

    “But, unfortunately, some of our people were caught up in the farm by the attackers on their way to the village. They opened fire at them and killed them. Some of them escaped to the village too.

    “So, when they discovered that, we had run away, they looted our property, including food stuffs and set the houses on fire.” He narrated.

    Also speaking on the attack, the Councillor of the area, Mr. Godwin Cletus said, “after a relentless search for the two persons who were initially declared missing during the attack, their bodies were found between Zangang and Ryom two days after the attack and they have been buried.”

    He however said that, despite the heavy security presence in the village and it surroundings, people of Zangang village have continued to flee for safety as they were seen  packing their belongings and leaving the village for fear of unknown.

    “Even though security agents are doing their work and safety and normalcy have returned, people are still seen packing their mattresses, food and other valuable items and leaving the village.

    “The Zangan people who deserted the community are still afraid of returning because they think the criminals may come back and relaunch attack on them. That has been the way they operate.”

    “Before the incident, villagers noticed suspicious movements of Fulani herdsmen relocating with their cattle and wives from the village, but they assumed there was no cause for alarm.

    “On Tuesday, prior to the attack,  something happened. There was a sign that, the Fulani people came to the area and had a meeting. So some people in the village began to suspect them that, it is any time they want to launch an attack that they will begin to move their cattle, wives and children out of the village.

    “A villager adept in security measures observed a gathering of Fulani men and quickly notified security men and probably he might not have followed the right channel. Even after the security men came, they told the Council Chairman that the place is safe and immediately they left, around 4 o’clock, the bandits came in large number and attack the villages when the people were harvesting in their farms.

    “Almost all the village was burnt down. They burnt hospital and before doing that, they packed all the items in the hospital like drugs. When they entered people’s house and noticed there is a good mattress, they take it.

    “The villagers observed that these people used to come from Ryom, after they finish attacking, they will go back to a village called Ganawuri. And they hide in that community and so it will be very difficult for security men from Kaduna to arrest them inside Plateau state. Any time they are being pursued they run into Plateau and constitutionally, there is no any way they can be apprehended.

    “When these people come for attack, they first divide themselves  into three and start shooting. Immediately there is no response from security, they start attacking.

    “There would have been more casualties on that very they if not that the villagers devices a tactics of hiding their relatives inside their corn farms.

    While disclosing that, they have submitted some report to security agents that can aid in arresting the perpetrators, Cletus argued that, the only way to stop the incessant attacks on Zangan village is for security agents and government to  question the chief of Ganawuri on why the criminals are being harbored in their place.

    President of Kaura Youth Coalition, Darek Christopher who also condemned the attack said, “killers who crossed the border in their hundreds surrounded the village and burnt about 36 houses, including St. Peters Catholic and Anglican Churches, and killed seven natives.

    “The attackers who were unmasked stole livestock, and burnt food stuffs.” He said.

    Christopher alleged that, the main  objective of the bandits is land grabbing, arguing that, “another Attakar Chiefdom’s settlement of Kirim-Mayit in Ryom Local Government Area of Plateau State was attacked and its people were displaced into IDP Camps and their lands were being farmed by some people who were believed to be from Ganawuri.”

    He said, though, calm has returned to Zangang, as security forces have taken over, leadership of Kaura and Ryom LGA should as a matter of great importance set up a Conflict Resolution or Dialogue Committee to look into the conflicts and proffer solutions that would restore the peace that was once enjoyed.

    He also called on the state government, donor agencies, religious organisations, all community development associations of Kaura Local Goverment Area, humanitarian organisations and individuals to come to the aid of the affected people of Zangang.

  • Our moments of horror in South Africa’s xenophobic attacks —Nigerian victims

    For more than one week now, South Africa, the former apartheid enclave popularly called the Rainbow Nation, has been caught in an orgy of violence. On a daily basis, terror has been unleashed on the foreign nationals in the country, particularly Nigerians. The social media are awash with video clips of defenseless individuals being beaten or burnt to death by petrol, matches and weapons-wielding South Africans youths.

    On account of the conflicting reports as to the cause of the latest unrest and why the South Africans are targeting foreign nationals in the country, our correspondent got across to some Nigerians resident in South Africa and they narrated their horrible experiences in different interviews.

    Genesis of the crisis

    One of the Nigerian victims, Julius Osas, a resident of Sunnyside in Pretoria, close to the place where the current xenophobic attacks was triggered, said he has lived in South Africa for 10 years.

    Narrating how it all began, he said: “Someone was actually killed, and where it happened is not far from where I stay. The problem began in Pretoria Central Business District (CBD). It was an issue between some South African taxi drivers and some Tanzanian street urchins who were peddling drug.

    “They (Tanzanians) peddle a drug called Nyaope. That is the local name. It is a cheap but very dangerous drug. Street boys use the drug. They use syringe and needle to draw some blood from their body. Then they would mix Nyaope with the blood they have drawn out and inject it back into their body. I have not used it before, but I know it is very dangerous.

    “When they have injected the drug back into their system and it starts working, they start to behave in a certain way. When they talk to you, they talk so slowly that they look like imbeciles. Even when they are on their feet, they will be sleeping.

    “The drug is cheap and Tanzanian guys are the peddlers. I don’t know where or how it is manufactured, but it is Tanzanians who deal in the drug. It has nothing to do with Nigerians. I have been here in South Africa for 10 years and I know it is Tanzanians that deal in that type of drug.

    “They sell the stuff at Brown Street, a very popular street in Pretoria CBD. That is where they usually converge. We call them Nyaope Boys. They sell mostly to South African urchins and street boys. And those urchins, when they jam you on the road at night, they rob and maul you. They are very dangerous, so people don’t want to come across them at night.

    “Now, on that fateful Tuesday afternoon on August 27, some South African taxi drivers challenged some of the Tanzanian drug peddlers on Brown Street. Apparently, they had been having issues. The place is close to the taxi drivers’ mini park. There were also some South African policemen around when the trouble began.

    “In no time, the quarrel between the Tanzanian drug peddlers and the taxi drivers escalated into a scuffle while the policemen at the spot tried to calm the situation. Suddenly, one of the Nyaope Boys grabbed the service pistol of one of the policemen and shot one of the taxi drivers dead.  The drug peddlers escaped from the scene and the mob that gathered started shouting that they were Nigerians. That was the genesis of the whole problem.

    “That afternoon, the chaos turned into violence. The aggrieved taxi drivers hijacked some trucks, blocked the road with them and started fighting all the foreigners they came across. That was the genesis of the latest attacks.”

    Osas said they had thought that the crisis had ended as the day drew to an end. Surprisingly, the crisis continued the following morning as South Africans insisted that the culprits were Nigerians and vowed to go round killing Nigerians and other foreigners and destroying their shops and property.

    He said: “The next day, some jobless South African youths hijacked the protest from the taxi drivers. They started looting, burning and vandalizing shops owned by foreigners.

    “Later, members of the South African Police Force (SAPF) were drafted to calm the situation, but by then, it had got out of hand.

    “The taxi drivers said they did not loot any shop; that the looting was the handiwork of hoodlums. They said they were just trying to voice out their anger over the killing of one of their members.

    “The next day being Thursday (August 29), they came to Sunnyside ostensibly to attack the drug dealers in Sunnyside. It is not far from where I stay. I saw everything live. A lot of Nigerians and other foreign nationals live there. Here in Sunnyside, we have the highest number of foreign nationals in Pretoria.”

    ‘How we survived the attacks’

    Osas said Sunnyside is most inhabited by foreigners, hence they were able to mobilise themselves to save their lives and property.

    He said: “The foreign nationals around Sunnyside were aware of the incident at Pretoria CBD, and I must be honest with you, these South African taxi drivers are very dangerous. Even the government cannot contain them when they go on the rampage.

    “Once we heard some of them saying it was a Nigerian that killed their member and that they were coming to Sunnyside, everyone was on the alert. When the taxi drivers came, they stood in front of a tall building opposite Excellence Street.

    “The police were also aware, so a lot of them trooped to the place to stop them from entering Sunnyside. They just stood opposite the building and were singing, shouting and chanting. They said the tall building was drug dealers’ hive. The police searched the building, but I think they only found some marijuana but they could not identify the owner.

    “At that point, the foreigners on Excellence Street gathered and were ready to defend themselves. They knew that the taxi drivers would be coming to break into shops just like they did in Pretoria CBD.

    “Majority of the shops in Sunnyside are owned and run by foreigners—Nigerians, Ghanaians, Cameroonians, Congolese and so on. For them to prevent what happened at Pretoria CBD, they all came out en mass, ready to fight to secure their lives, properties and businesses, but the police intervened and stopped what would have been a deadly clash.”

    Osas explained that most of the destructions done by the rampaging South Africans occurred in Pretoria CBD. “The major destruction and looting started there at Pretoria CBD. They burnt and looted shops. Any shop or business place owned by foreigners were targeted and destroyed,” he said.

    He, however, said that things were gradually returning to normal as he had started going to work.

    He said: “I go to work despite the fact that there were messages all over the social media where they were threatening that they were coming for us in Sunnyside. We’ve been receiving messages from the taxi drivers that they were coming to attack us.

    “You know, the taxi drivers, whenever they want to do something, it is always bloody. Those guys always have guns with them, even when they are driving their taxis. Everyone is afraid of them. Nobody wants to get on their bad side. But Nigerians here insist that they do not know anything about the killing of one of them; that it was between them and the Tanzanians. But you know in South Africa, because of their past experience with Nigerians, anything that happens between them and any foreigner, they blame it on Nigerians.

    “For now, due to foreign intervention, the whole situation is calming down. The South African president addressed the nation, calling for peace. I think the African Union (AU) has also intervened, although we saw some videos today of lootings by South Africans. They take advantage of any unrest to loot.”

    Another Nigerian victim, who did not want his name in print for security reasons, said: “They knew that the killing was not committed by Nigerians. They just seized the opportunity to damage a lot of things, burn Nigerians’ shops for nothing.

    “Ironically, these Tanzanian guys do not have shops. They stay on the streets. Look at what they have caused Nigerians because of hatred. Even if you are nursing hatred, it should be against somebody you know has done you wrong.

    “Even today (Thursday), I had discussions with some of the taxi drivers. They said they know it was not Nigerians but those guys were stupid. I spoke with them one on one. They said they were so sorry about the destructions. They are regretting their actions.

    “I told them if you know whoever offended you, why not go and sort it out with the person? Why involving Nigerians? Any Nigerian who misbehaves, give it back to them. They were begging, saying that they were sorry. God of justice will judge everybody. We leave everything in God’s hands.”

    Another Nigerian victim, who identified himself simply as Dele, said his electronics shop was looted in Pretoria Central Business District.

    Narrating his experience and explaining why it would be difficult for many Nigerians to leave the country, he said: “I was attacked on Tuesday, August 27. They took my phones, wallet and car keys. They really wanted to kill me but I managed to escape.

    “Once any bad thing happens here in South Africa, the first country they mention is Nigeria. They said a Nigerian killed a South African taxi driver, which is not true. It was not a Nigerian that did it, but they took advantage of that to burn and loot foreigners’ shops, especially the ones owned by Nigerians.

    “I have a shop in area known as Xisulu, formerly Princelow. That is the name of the street.  Since I came to South Africa, that is the business I have been doing. Even back home in Nigeria, that was the business I was doing. I am into electronics.

    “I used to have a shop at Alaba International Market. It is the same business I am doing in Pretoria here. It took me close to 10 years to build that business to what it is now.”

    Asked to estimate he lost, Dele said: “If I have to put a value to my loss, plus or minus, it will be almost 650,000 rand (about N16.5 million).”

    Asked about the response of the Nigerian embassy in South Africa, he said: “I was at the Nigerian embassy on August 29 and even yesterday (Thursday). We were supposed to have a meeting with them but they said the Nigerian ambassador was not around.

    “After the first meeting, they said we should come today (September 5). That was what we agreed. When the ambassador returns, we will know if we would get any compensation. We don’t know yet.”

    Dele also gave reason why Nigerians continue to stay in South Africa.

    He said: “To me, what I can say is that people have been living here for years. They have businesses here. It is very difficult to just leave.

    “Some of us have families here. Some Nigerians are married to South African women and they have families. That is a major problem. Are you going to leave your wife and children and go back home? You have to stay with your family. That is the major issue.

    “I can equally say that the infrastructure here in South Africa, we can never compare it to Nigeria in terms of infrastructure. I can say that somebody staying in South Africa and maybe renting a room is almost like someone staying in Ikoyi or Victoria Island in Lagos. They have access to same infrastructure—good road network, water, electricity, hospital and things like that. These are the things that make most Nigerians not to want to return.”

  • Sorrow, tears on federal road in Rivers

    The Igbo-Etche–Eleme Road in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State, is in a terrible state crippling commercial and social activities. Commuters have appealed for urgent Federal Government’s intervention to fix the deplorable road, reports Shola O’Neil

     

    MOTORISTS and commuters who pass through the Igbo-Etche – Eleme Road in Port Harcourt, Rivers State have appealed for urgent Federal Government’s intervention to fix the deplorable road.

    Residents and business owners in the area lamented to our reporter that the deplorable state of the road has crippled commercial and social activities in the area, as travellers now shun the route.

    Our reporter, who visited the road yesterday, learnt that the strategic road, which links dozens of towns in the state and nearby Imo State, has failed at more than one point.

    Angry residents and motorists decried the perceived non-chalant attitude of the federal and state governments towards the road, stressing that, “the road has been bad for months and there is no effort to repair it.”

    Motorists travelling on the busy Port Harcourt-Enugu expressway use the road to avoid the gnarling traffic occasioned by ongoing repair of the Obigbo axis of that road.

    “This road links Igbo-Etche to Eleme Junction and the East-West Road, but for months now the road has become a source of worry to motorists and passengers who use the road,” one of the aggrieved business owners in the area, who simply identified himself as Lawrence, told our reporter.

    Lawrence explained that a trip from Igbo-Etche to Eleme junction usually cost N100 – N150, but lamented that due to the failure of that portion of the road, it now costs between N200 – N300.

    “Before, from Igbo-Etche community to Eleme Junction was N100, but now from Igbo-Etche to here (bad spot) is N150, and from here to Eleme Junction is N100. We are suffering so much on this road, especially when it rains.”

    Car owners living in the communities around the bad spot now opt for a motorcycle as a means of commuting to and from their work and business places.

    “We are suffering; everybody living around here is suffering. Those who own business here can’t feed their families again, because people are avoiding this area. Any time it rains, if you see the holdup you will understand,” Mr Omoregie Henry said.

    Stressing that road users are not interested in the Federal or state government or APC/PDP politics, respondents said they merely want the government to fix the road urgently.

    “As it is now, very soon we would need canoes to cross the road because if they don’t fix it immediately, the road will get worse. Trucks are plying the road. The road leads to Ngor-Okpala (Imo State), exit to Port Harcourt-Owerri Expressways and other communities in Etche Local Government.”

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, speaking through his Special Assistant on Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, slammed the Federal Government for the deplorable state of the road, stressing that the state was yet to get a refund for an earlier work done.

    Nwakaudu said: “The road in questions is a federal road. Only recently, it was reconstructed by the Rivers State Government.”

    “At present, the state government is working to get a refund of funds used in intervening in Federal Roads. While other states have received their refund, Rivers is the only state yet to receive the refund.”

    “Recall that on August 8, 2019 Rivers State Governor stated that Rivers is the only state of the Federation that the Federal Government has refused to refund monies used to execute Federal Projects.”

    Wike, speaking when Rivers State Traditional Rulers paid him a solidarity visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt, regretted that politics have been placed above due process under the current dispensation.”

    “Of all the 36 states of the federation, it is only Rives State that they refused to refund resources used to execute Federal projects,” he said, adding that he would not join governors who sell their people to seek relevance.

    But opposition sources in Etche local government area claimed that a recent planned intervention by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to fix the road was rebuffed by the state government. This could not be independently confirmed.

     

    Significance of the road

    IGBO-ETCHE is one of the fast-growing communities in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State. The area is connected to other parts of the state by the Igbo-Etche – Eleme Junction on the east, and Igbo-Etche-Igwuruta-Chokocho on the other end.

    The verve of this community owes mainly to its location as a nerve centre of Etche communities and Port Harcourt metropolis on the one hand, and from Eleme Junction to the major industrial and commercial hubs of Onne and other parts of Eleme.

    Over the past three years, vehicular traffic on the Igbo-Etche-Eleme Junction road has increased exponentially, because of the boom in property development, growing population and growth in commercial and social activities.

    The road is important for people who live, work or own businesses in Etche-Aba Road, Ebele 4 (Shell Location) and others, especially those who work in the Oyigbo (Obigbo) and environs. It is also an artery to communities, such as Chokocho, Eneka and Igwuruta in Rivers, to Ngor-Okpalla in Imo and Aba in Abia states.

    The Intels Logistics Company in Onne, Port Harcourt Refinery and Indorama-Eleme Petrochemical Company are major employers of labour. These companies also attract several services companies and their workforces. The members of staff of these companies are constantly in need of affordable accommodations. This class of Nigerians has over time found Igbo-Etche and environs very attractive.

    Property developers also find the area attractive because plots of land are relatively cheaper than other developed towns close to the Port Harcourt metropolis.

    The worsening state of the road is, therefore, a source of worry for these Nigerians, who now spend more money and waste longer hours to get to work every day and back home in every evening.

    Since the ongoing reconstruction of the Obigbo junction area of Port Harcourt-Aba-Enugu expressway, Igbo-Etche road has become very attractive for travellers who use it as a detour to avoid an equally very bad portion of the road around Oyigbo.

     

  • Botswana issues alert to travellers

    BOTSWANA on Thursday issued a travel advisory warning to its citizens following xenophobic attacks in neighbouring South Africa.

    Botswana Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation advised all its citizens travelling to South Africa to exercise extreme caution because of the violent unrests in multiple locations in the country.

    The ministry, in a statement, said there were unrests in Pretoria’s Central Business District (CBD), Johannesburg’s CBD, Hillbrow area and its southern suburbs of Jeppes town and Malvern, among other places.

    The ministry also warned its citizens currently living in South Africa to be very vigilant.

  • Revealed: How Obas crowned by Ajimobi bowed to Olubadan

    IT was significant. But, it almost went unnoticed. On Monday, Olubadan Saliu Adetunji and members of the Olubadan-in-Council were at the International Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan. The council members wore ordinary caps. Until then, they had worn crowns and they had insisted that by Oyo State Law, they were obas, though not of equal standing with the Olubadan.

    But, why did the council members drop their crowns, which they had worn for some two years? The Nation can reveal that Monday’s rapprochement, which saw the council members being part of the Olubadan’s entourage, is a product of days and nights of wheeling and dealing.

    For two years, it was like they were living up to the saying that ‘street-fighting is Ibadan’s disease’. The truce was brokered by three key indigenes of the city – Governor Seyi Makinde, Chief Bode Amoo and High Chief Rashidi Ladoja. While the move for reconciliation was made by Makinde, Amoo was the one who worked the magic. It was learnt that some elders in the city had rejected the request to wade into the crisis for the sake of peace and the sanctity of the Olubadan throne before Amoo accepted the challenge.

    Many elders had tried in vain to resolve the logjam at the early stage of the crisis. Oba Adetunji insisted that dropping their crowns was the only condition he could dialogue with his high chiefs. The chiefs also insisted that the Olubadan must drop the title of ‘imperial majesty’, which the review also conferred on him as a condition to drop their crowns. The tough stance of both parties made futile the reconciliation efforts of elders, other obas, religious leaders and leaders of thought in the city and across Yorubaland.

    A source told The Nation that Amoo first met with Ladoja, who was the only high chief who rejected the crown in 2017. After persuading Ladoja to embrace reconciliation and to join him, the octogenarian was said to have met the most senior high chief, Senator Lekan Balogun, who is also the next-in-line to the Olubadan throne. After convincing Balogun on the need to embrace peace, he went ahead to meet other high chiefs one-on-one and persuaded them to return to the palace on Oba Adetunji’s terms, which was to drop their crowns without any fanfare.

    Read Also: Olubadan’s special birthday gift

    Amoo was said to have called the attention of the gladiators to the huge sums being spent on litigation and the negative impact media reports of the crisis were giving Ibadan as a city. He argued that the huge litigation sums could be spent on development initiatives in the city. He explained the need for every one of them to pocket their pride for the sake of peace in Ibadan.

    The crisis made Oba Adetunji not to fill the vacancies created by the death of High Chief Olufemi Olaitan. He had died shortly before the crowning of the high chiefs in 2017. Olaitan was the Otun Balogun of Ibadan as at the time of his death.

    The high chiefs were crowned by immediate past Governor Abiola Ajimobi, as kings of the local governments where they preside. But, the Olubadan opposed their elevation, saying that the state government did not have the right to crown anyone without his approval. He added that their crowing would hurt the peaceful ascension of the high chiefs to the throne of the Olubadan.

    The two parties stuck to their guns while the chiefs shunned the Popoyemoja palace of the Olubadan for meetings of the Olubadan-In-Council. They met regularly at Mapo Hall. All entreaties to both sides to embrace peace failed until last month. But, they are now back happily on the same table to rule Ibadan land.

  • Akinterinwa, Keshi, others evaluate govt’s actions against South Africa

    RETIRED diplomats and international affairs experts have hailed the Federal Government for recalling its High Commissioner to South Africa Ambassador Kabiru Bala and also pulling out of the World Economic Summit which begun in Cape Town on Wednesday.

    But, former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America Joe Keshi, differed on Nigeria recalling its envoy.

    Those interviewed by The Nation such as former Nigerian Permanent Representative to the African Union and retired Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Paul Lolo, ex-Director General of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs Prof. Bola Akinterinwa and Ambassador and university don, Prof. Osita Agbu.

    Lolo said recalling an ambassador from a country is having a diplomatic row is the first step in unravelling what is amiss and next step to take.

    He said: “It is a clear indication that Nigeria is not happy. A country that resorts to recalling its ambassador is sending a clear and unambiguous message.”

    On other measures to take, the former Permanent Secretary said under international law, all countries, including South Africa, have obligations they must meet.

    According to him, South Africa must have received requests from the Federal Government which they must meet.

    “I watched South African President talking about the issue. That means they are already taking action public on the matter. Therefore, we must wait for their reactions before taken other measure,” Lolo said.

    To Akinterinwa, recalling Nigerian High Commissioner “is good, but not good enough”.

    He said in a diplomatic row, “the first step to take is to recall your high commissioner for briefing or report on what transpired. Based on the report, you determine the steps to take and the level of representation. Maybe to send an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, who has the power to sign an agreement on behalf of the government on the diplomatic crisis. Recalling the high commissioner shows there is no one to link Nigeria with South Africa diplomatically and not attending the Africa World Economic Forum is to say our government is dissatisfied with South Africa. If South Africa does not want deterioration in relationship, they must take the required action.”

    On the principle of reparation, Akinterinwa said: “We must wait for the response of South Africa. South Africa must pay adequate compensation for the actions of its citizens.”

    The university don said the Federal Government may break diplomatic ties with South Africa if it’s not satisfied with the response from Pretoria.

    Keshi said Nigeria ought to have allowed the envoy dispatched to Pretoria to come back before taking action on the matter.

    He said: “This is one of the options open to the government. But the Federal Government should have tarried a bit. I don’t know whether the special envoy announced yesterday is gone or back. This is the time the high commissioner should be on the ground to attend to those injured and those who need diplomatic attentions.

    “Though the move is not out of place, the high commissioner is the head of the mission. By recalling him, who will relate with South Africa at the highest level?” he queried.

    He disagreed with the notion that the envoy did not do well. He said as a retired diplomat, he has had his fair share of what envoys go through.

    Agbu said going by what he has been reading in the newspapers and on the television, it is good that Nigeria has recalled the envoy.

    He said: “If what we read in the media is correct, Nigerians have been going to the high commission and staging protests for succour without being attended to. The gates of the commissions are always locked against them during the time of needs. It shows there is no cordial relation between the high commission and Nigerians in the country.

    “I also understand that resources are scarce, but that does not mean that you have to lock your gates against your countrymen in the time of need.”

    According to the university don, recalling the envoy “is a symbolic act”. “It shows Nigeria is displeased with South Africa,” Agbu said.

     

     

     

  • What sparked the riots?

    SOME say foreigners are blamed for taking people’s jobs, others say they are blamed for pushing drugs.

    The attacks on foreign stores began a day after South African truckers started a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest against the employment of foreign drivers. They blocked roads and torched foreign-driven vehicles mainly in the south-western KwaZulu-Natal province.

    It comes at a time of high unemployment and some South Africans blame foreigners for taking their jobs.

    The unemployment rate in South Africa is nearly 28%, the highest since the labour force survey was introduced 11 years ago.

    The government minister responsible for small business development told BBC Newsday that the rioters “feel other Africans are coming into the country and they feel these Africans are taking our jobs”.

    Lindiwe Zulu said the problems were caused by the movement of people across Africa.

    “We are facing a challenge that is beyond South Africa as a country. This is an African problem”, she said.

    But others say drug-dealing blamed on foreigners sparked off these riots.

    A taxi driver was allegedly shot dead in Pretoria last week when he confronted foreign nationals thought to be selling drugs to young people, reports South Africa’s News 24.

    South Africa experienced its worst outbreak of violence against foreigners in 2008 when more than 60 people died.

    In 2015 unrest in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban claimed seven lives as immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs. Attacks became so bad that a sports field south of Durban was made into a makeshift refugee camp for Africans escaping the violent looters.

    And then in March this year, three people died after about 100 people attacked mostly foreign-owned small food shops in Durban.

     

  • Falana urges redress for victims

    ACTIVIST lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has advised the Federal Government to seek legal redress for Nigerians who are victims of attacks in South African courts.

    He said this has become necessary because the Cyril Ramaphosa administration is not likely to accede to government’s demand for compensation for the victims of the attacks.

    Falana, who is also the National Chairman, Peoples Alternative Front (PAF), in a statement yesterday titled: “Beyond the condemnation of xenophobic attacks by the federal government”, counselled that the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria should be directed to coordinate the legal defence.

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    “In view of the regular harassment of Nigerians in South Africa and a few other African countries, the federal government should make the declaration to enable individual victims of human rights abuse to access the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights sitting in Arusha, Tanzania.

    “Since there is no assurance that Nigerians and other Africans will no longer be subjected to xenophobic attacks the federal government should boycott the World Economic Forum scheduled to commence in South Africa.

    ”Even though apartheid was defeated by the people of South Africa over two decades ago, the unjust socioeconomic system erected by capitalism has not been dismantled.

     

  • Labour, Afenifere, Catholic bishop: Fed. Govt must protect our people

    ORGANISED Labour and the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere have called on President Muhammad Buhari to take protect lives and property of Nigerians in South Africa.

    Afenifere condemned the dastard attack on Nigerians by South Africans, alleging the federal government of docility on the incidence.

    The group spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, described the attacks on Nigerians as unfortunate and disheartening, saying the actions of the Federal Government have not been impressive.

    Odumakin noted that for the ongoing mob attacks on South African investment in Nigeria to stop, President Buhari must against all odds take domestic measures that would send strong signals to the country that Nigerians were in pains.

    He said: “The actions are so regretful but the reaction of the Nigerian government has not been impressive. It is quite tardy and lethargic. Even the kind of reactions we see during cattle rustling, we have not seen that in the killing of Nigerians in South Africa. Until this afternoon that the government said they are boycotting World Economic Forum.”

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) said the constant and frequent attack and killing of Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa were unacceptable. It appealed for restraint and against any form of retaliation by Nigerians.

    In its statement by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, the NLC said attacking South African businesses in Nigeria would amount to attacking businesses owned by Nigerians as the majority of the businesses associated with South Africa in Nigeria are owned by Nigerians.

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    The NLC said: “We at the Nigeria Labour Congress condemn in strongest terms, the attacks on businesses and killings of Nigerians by South Africans in South Africa. These attacks and killings are beastly and unacceptable.

    “The frequency and escalation of these attacks are not only reprehensible but are capable of undermining the illustrious bilateral relations between the government and people of Nigeria and the government and people of South Africa.”

    A statement by TUC President, Comrade Quadri A. Olaleye and General Secretary, Comrade Musa-Lawal Ozigi, said: “Nigerian government must adopt stringent diplomatic measures and also urge other African countries to follow suit. For us, the Congress believes strongly that the South African government is guilty of the dastardly act by association. The question is, what do they hope to achieve? How can killings go on for years without the government bringing culprits to book? This is very unfortunate.

    “Nigeria is a country that accommodates all and sundry. South African companies own several multi-billion dollar investments on our soils yet, we co-exist despite all the aggression against our people in their home country. To make issues worse, these same companies are involved in anti-labour practices.”

    The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, has condemned in strong terms the continuous attacks on Nigerians in particular and other Africans in South Africa.

    Martins said on Wednesday in Lagos that the attacks were barbaric, reprehensible and an attack on the very core of African brotherhood.

    He urged the Federal Government to deal decisively with the issue using very strong diplomatic means to stem the tide of the attacks.

    “The South African Police officials seen publicly rousing the peoples’ anger against foreigners in their country without any visible repercussion gives an impression of some official endorsement of the mob action.

    “Our government needs to pursue this to its logical conclusion.

    “It is the responsibility of every government to protect the lives and properties of its citizens within and outside the country,” he said in a statement.

    “Any attack on Nigerian citizens should elicit a swift response from the government not to talk of them being killed with impunity.

    “The insufficient response of our government in confronting the matter with the seriousness it deserves does not project us in a good light as a country that cares enough for the welfare of its citizens.

    “My fear is that if decisive diplomatic measures are not taken now, this matter may go out of hand with enormous consequences for all.”

    Martins wondered why fellow blacks who had and are still benefiting from their relationship with the nation had chosen to pay us back by unleashing so much violence against Nigerian citizens.

    “This is not the kind of South Africa that Nelson Mandela laboured for.”

    According to him, this marks another wake-up call for Nigerian leaders to work even more assiduously so that the social and economic situation of the nation can be better.”

     

  • Seadogs, Abaribe, Sani: enough is enough

    THE National Association of Seadogs (NAS) has charged the Federal Government to take urgent steps to halt the killings of Nigerians in South Africa following Monday’s xenophobic attack against Nigerians living there.

    NAS, which is known as Pyrates Confraternity, lamented that the latest xenophobic attack on innocent Nigerians in South Africa was one too many.

    The association called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately address the incessant killings of Nigerians in South Africa through ‘diplomatic response’.

    In a statement issued on Tuesday by the NAS Capn, Mr Kwaghbunde Gbahabo, and made available to The Nation in Calabar, the association called on the Federal Government to demand that the government of South Africa should prosecute those responsible for these senseless attacks.

    It also demanded called for the prosecution of the South African government officials who have openly supported and justified the attacks on Nigerians and other foreigners living in the country.

    NAS said the leadership of the country could not afford to fold its arms while fellow African citizens kill and maim innocent Nigerians living in South Africa.

    Noting that it was not only South Africa that Nigerians reside and work abroad, NAS said xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa had assumed a worrisome dimension.

    “In recent times, xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa have assumed an alarming proportion. In fact, there is no period in the last six months that Nigerians working in South Africa have not been attacked,” the statement read.

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    African Centre for Peace and Development Executive Director Shehu Sani urged the South African government to compensate Nigerians who suffered losses during the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.

    In a statement in Abuja, Sani said: “The continuous attacks against Nigerians in South Africa stands unreservedly condemned. The Government of the Republic of South African must protect Nigerian nationals and frontally combat xenophobia.”

    Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe has urged the Federal Government to compel the government of South Africa to stop the attacks on Nigerians.

    Abaribe, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Uchenna Awom on Tuesday in Abuja, described as barbaric the unwarranted attack.

    He said the seeming cold approach of the South African government to the vexed issue cast it as being complicit.

    “That being the case, our government must go beyond diplomatic niceties and ensure the protection of our people living in that country henceforth. The Presidency must stamp their feet on the ground and call that government to order.

    “We have an emergency, this is not the time to play good guy on international diplomacy. The gory picture of our people being slaughtered on the streets of South Africa in recent times lowers our collective spirit, even as it tends to diminish Nigeria’s prestige in the committee of nations,” he said.