Some hoodlums , on Thursday , took
advantage of a protest by somtudents in Abuja to invade a regional
office of telecommunications giant,
MTN , where they vandalised office
equipment and looted phone sets,
laptops and personal effects .
MTN is a South African firm .
Recently , Nigerians in South Africa
were objects of widespread and
gruesome xenophobic attacks .
The vandals also damaged car
windscreens and stole cash and
phones before the arrival of
policemen at the office , located at 4
Madeira Street , Maitama , FCT.
The office subsequently shut down its
operation following the incident as
policemen took over the area to
protect the building from being
further looted.
An MTN worker said the staff
scampered to safety while the attack
lasted.
The worker , who simply identified
himself as Oscar , said , “ I just heard
people running ; then , I started
running to hide and by the time we
came out after the security operatives
chased them out, they have packed all
the laptops we used to work, all the
phones on display for sale . They
broke some computers and took
people’ s personal phones and
money .”
He narrated that cash was also taken
by the miscreants , but could not give
the exact amount said to have been
stolen .
“ The people got into the premises ,
broke the windscreen of a car and
destroyed the doors to the reception;
they were chanting anti - South African
songs after they were chased outside
the premises by security operatives , ”
he added.
Some students under the aegis of the
National Association of Nigerian
Students , had started a protest at the
South Africa High Commission in
Abuja on Thursday .
The protesters burnt the former
apartheid enclave’ s national flag to
express their anger over the attacks
on Nigerians and other foreigners in
parts of Pretoria , South Africa .
The students, led by their President,
Aruna Kadiri, also stormed two South
African firms, MTN and Multichoice ,
to register their anger .
At the South Africa High Commission ,
the protesting students issued a 48 -
hour ultimatum to South African
nationals to leave Nigeria .
They also urged the officials to cancel
the dinner organised in honour of
Regina Tambo , the co- founder of
African National Congress Youth
League .
The students later moved to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs , where
their leader admonished the
government to take concrete action to
protect Nigerians in South Africa .
Kadiri asked the Federal Government
to break diplomatic ties with Pretoria
over the attacks and looting of
business premises owned by
Nigerians .
He said , “ We are demanding that they
(FG ) should break the ties between
both countries if there’ s any because
the xenophobic attacks that had
happened long time ago has
happened again . We have decided to
clear the madness with madness . ”
The student leader explained that
they burnt the South African flag to
pass a message that “ we don ’t have
relationship with them any longer.”
“ Within 48 hours, all South Africans
in Nigeria should leave or else , we
won ’ t be able to guarantee their
security anymore ,” Kadiri threatened .
He stated that the treatment being
meted out to Nigerians was
particularly insulting given the role
Nigeria played in ending apartheid in
South Africa .
The spokesperson for the Foreign
Affairs ministry, Clement Aduku ,
urged the students to calm down ,
saying the government was currently
engaging South Africa on the attacks .
But the police warned individuals
and groups against indulging in acts
that could lead to the destruction of
properties and cause a breakdown of
law and order in the Federal Capital
Territory .
A statement by the FCT Police
Command spokesman , Anjuguri
Manzah, said the command would not
hesitate to apply the appropriate
sections of the law in the prosecution
of those arrested for causing the
breakdown of law and order .
Protect Nigerians, others, Senate tells
S ’Africa
The Vice- Chairman , Senate Committee
on Foreign Affairs , Senator Shehu
Sani, on Thursday , told South Africa
to protect the lives and property of
Nigerians and other foreigners in the
country .
He said the recurrent xenophobic
attacks in South Africa , if not
stopped , could break the ties between
the country and Nigeria .
Sani said this when he visited the
South African High Commissioner to
Nigeria , Mr. Lulu Mnguni , in Abuja
on Thursday .
He said , “ We should not allow the
misadventure of a few to affect the
historical relationship Nigeria has
with South Africa . Every country has
good and bad people. Nigeria and
South Africa have come a long way .
Nigeria ’s relationship with South
Africa is beyond bilateral
relationship ; it is about the future of
Africa and the black race by
extension .
“ It is very painful when Africans are
being attacked in South Africa and
the Western media are reporting as
blacks being against each other . If
anything happens to the relationship
between Nigeria and South Africa , it
will affect all of us because we are
pillars of Africa .”
Mnguni , however, said foreigners
must obey the laws of their host
country .
He said in part, “ South Africa always
has respect for humanity . We are not
condoning violence but it will also be
wrong for us to take the expression of
the grievances of our people for
granted .
“ South Africa cannot see itself as an
island that can survive on its own .
When people go to other countries,
even if it South Africans , who go to
Nigeria , they must respect the laws of
the host country . ”
The High Commissioner explained
that South Africans were aggrieved
with foreigners involved in drug
trafficking , commercial sex and tax
evasion .
He also said there was shortage of
jobs for South Africans .
According to the envoy , South
Africans no longer have faith in the
police , as the agency is widely
believed to have been corrupted by
the criminal elements among the
foreigners .
But Sani, in his response to Mnguni ,
told the envoy that criminality was
not peculiar to certain countries.
He said , “ The problem of drug
trafficking and other crimes is
continental . South African security
agencies have the duty to intervene
in the situation . If not , they will leave
the whole issue to the mobs on the
streets .
“ Whoever is involved in these
(attacks ) must be apprehended and
brought to book . ”
Also , Governor Godwin Obaseki of
Edo State called on the Federal
Government to take necessary steps
towards ensuring adequate protection
of Nigerians living outside the
country .
Obaseki stated this when he received
officials of the Alumni Association of
the National Institute for Policy and
Strategic Studies at the Government
House in Benin .
The governor , who described the
attacks as condemnable, said
government must not “ sit idle” in the
face of the maltreatment of its
citizens .
Obaseki stated , “ As a country , we
should not and must not continue to
sit idle and allow our citizens to be
maltreated , doing nothing .
“ We in Edo State condemn it and are
calling on the federal authorities ,
especially our foreign affairs
ministry , to ensure that they do not
take the issue of our citizens for
granted as a lot of our people have
been maltreated and subjected to
inhuman treatment in Libya .”
The President of the association , Maj.
Gen . Lawrence Onoja (retd .),
commended the governor on his
efforts in the state, saying the
association would partner the
government in the interest of the
citizens .
S ’African minister condemns attacks on
foreigners
Meanwhile , the South African Home
Affairs Minister , Malusi Gigaba , on
Thursday , in Cape Town , said despite
frequent attacks on foreigners by the
country ’s citizens , they did not have
hatred for foreigners.
At a press conference organised by
the country ’ s Home Affairs Ministry
to douse tension between South
Africans and foreign nationals,
Gigaba stated that the “ dynamics of
migration , crime , drugs , prostitution ,
fraud and unfair labour practices are
too serious to be turned into populists
politicking .”
A rally is planned for Friday (today )
in the Pretoria CBD by a group, the
Mamelodi Concerned Residents.
The minister said , “ It is important
always to be careful in the narratives
we push into the public space . A
democratic state bears the
responsibility to save lives and to
protect rights of persons . I wish to
appeal to all South Africans to desist
from rhetoric or actions that are
xenophobic . I also want to commend
the many responsible South Africans
who have been a living testament to
Ubuntu and tolerance.
“ There will be no progressive and
sustainable victory in xenophobic
violence . Opportunistic individuals,
who partake in it erode the human
face we have struggled very hard to
acquire .
“ Our democracy enshrines our hard -
earned human rights . We are first
and foremost humans . This reality
cannot be diluted by your country of
origin or what documents you hold, or
lack thereof . Humanity , within the
context of our constitution , is not only
a cultural prescription of Ubuntu ; it is
also about legal compliance , and
respect for rights of all persons . ”
In a statement obtained by one of our
correspondents , the minister
admitted that xenophobic violence
was not new in South Africa .
Group calls for urgent action against
attacks
Meanwhile , a group, advocates of
Peoples Rights and Justice , called on
the Federal Government to urgently
address the recent xenophobic attacks
on Nigerians living in South Africa .
The group, in a statement on
Thursday by its National Coordinator ,
Victor Giwa, said the attacks on
Nigerians and their investments by
South Africans were gross violation of
articles 12 (1 )(5 ), 19 and 22 , 23 (i) of
the African Charter on Human and
Peoples Rights.
The statement read, “ Consequently , we
condemn the actions of the South
Africans as they amount to breach of
all international treaties , it is illegal
and is equal to state criminality
against foreigners . We call on
Nigerian government to address these
atrocities before they degenerate .”
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