According
to reports from nigerianwatch, the Federal government is set to start
evacuating Nigerians as response to the persistent xenophobic attacks
sweeping across South Africa.
In
the past week, South Africans have resorted to vent their frustrations
on fellow Africans and migrants as a result of the downward slide in
their economy. The brutal xenophobic violence which started from the Zulu clan, has spread to major cities like Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Officially, the
Nigerian government has reported that none of her citizens have lost their lives
yet to the attacks. Earlier this week, the Nigerian House of
Representatives passed a vote calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to
withdraw the high commission to Pretoria in response to the crisis.
Yesterday, the Nigerian
foreign ministry announced that the evacuation of its citizens in South Africa
will begin on Monday,20 April. Nigeria’s high commission in Pretoria has said
that Nigerians who feel endangered and do not have the fare back home to
quickly make themselves available for evacuation.
According to the high commission
spokesperson, “As from Monday 20th of April 2015, the process of evacuating
Nigerians from South Africa will begin as directed by the Federal Government of
Nigeria due to the ongoing xenophobic attacks on black foreign nationals in the
Republic of South Africa. To that effect an evacuation register will be open at
the High Commission in Pretoria for Nigerians intending to return to Nigeria
but cannot afford flight tickets.”
Nigerian lawmakers on Thursday, also vowed to invoke relevant business
laws to frustrate South Africans operating retail outlets in Nigeria, if
immediate actions were not taken by the government.
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