The Federal Government on Wednesday summoned the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Louis-Mnguni, over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other black Africans.
The government also demanded compensation from the South African authorities for the Nigerian victims of the violence by black South Africans.
A statement from the Public Communications Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Louis-Mnguni met in Abuja on Wednesday with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Musiliu Obanikoro.
The statement explained that during the meeting, Obanikoro expressed Nigeria’s concern over the fate of its and other nationals in South Africa.
He underscored the fact that since South Africa was a major player on the continent, it should make its nationals to live in peace with citizens of other countries.
The minister called on the South African government to “take concrete steps to quell the unrest and bring the culprits involved to book, to serve as a deterrent to others and prevent reoccurrence.”
According to the statement, the High Commissioner informed the minister that Pretoria was doing everything possible to address the attacks and prosecute those behind them.
He expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the manner in which it was handling the crisis.
The envoy also disclosed that sensitisation campaigns would be carried out to educate South Africans on the need for them to live in peace with other nationals.
As the meeting was going on, the National Assembly and the United Nations flayed the attacks in the former apartheid enclave and called for their immediate end.
Like the Executive did, the House of Representatives also sought compensation for the victims and their families.
Its Committee on Diaspora Affairs said that compensation would be “a major step in healing the wounds” inflicted on Nigerians and other African migrants.
The Chairman of the committee, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, conveyed the House demand when she delivered the resolution of the House to Louis-Mnguni in Abuja.
She said it was a “sad development “ that South Africans would kill and destroy the properties of fellow Africans for reasons that were not defensible.
Dabiri-Erewa, who led members of the committee to the South African High Commission in Abuja to register the legislature’s unhappiness with the attacks, urged Pretoria to make “determined efforts” to quell the attacks.
She said, “Nigeria will not tolerate further killing and harassment of Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa.
“We have to add that there should be compensation for all those who suffered as a result of these attacks”, she told the envoy.
In his response, Louis-Mnguni extended the apologies of his home government to Nigeria.
“We are sorry and feel very bad that you, our own people, are affected,” the envoy said. He assured the delegation that his home government was addressing the incident.
He stated that in addition to using regular security agencies to contain the situation, President Jacob Zuma had ordered that the armed forces be deployed in the streets to beef up security.
Louis-Mnguni informed the committee that Zuma’s government might not focus on payment of compensation as the immediate reaction to the problem.
He explained that what was urgent was to restore security to the affected areas and support those who had been displaced.
“Our focus now is on saving lives”, he added.
But the envoy admitted that the younger generation of South Africans needed to be adequately educated on the sacrifices Nigeria and other African countries made during the liberation struggles in South Africa.
He told the committee that he was aware that many Africans died for the sake of South Africa while many governments made their resources available in support of the fight against white supremacist rule.
“We are not strong enough on the issue of education. A lot of our youths were born post 1990s and they are not fully aware of the role of Nigeria and other countries in the liberation struggles”, Louis-Mnguni stated.
He assured the committee that Pretoria would take urgent steps to correct noticeable shortcomings.
Shortly after this, the South African Consul-General in Nigeria, Sam Monaisa, announced a short closure of the consulate in Lagos.
Monaisa said in an electronic mail to the South African Business Forum that the closure would remain in force until Thursday (today).
Monaisa accused Nigerians of “using the social media to blow an already tense situation in South Africa out of proportion and stoking emotions.”
He claimed that this was why Nigerians maintained that their compatriots were being killed daily in South Africa.
