Nigerians ‘safe’ from xenophobic attacks in S/A

The ministry of foreign affairs says that Nigerians resident in South Africa are not affected by the ongoing conflict in the country.

At least five people have lost their lives in South Africa in the last one week courtesy of protests against foreigners by citizens of the country.

However, Abdulhameed Dankano, director of immigration and consular services at the ministry of foreign affairs, told NAN that no Nigerian had been killed in the crisis.

Dankano’s reaction followed reports that two Nigerians lost their lives in the attack.

“No Nigerian has been killed so far in South Africa,” he said.

“The ministry has been in touch with the head of mission in South Africa and as we speak, he is in touch with the South African authorities.

“He is in Durban meeting with the minister of home affairs on how to safeguard the lives and property of Nigerians and other foreigners. He has also been meeting with the Nigerian associations in South Africa on the need to take precautionary measures in safeguarding their lives and property.”

Dankano explained that one of the issues the South Africans had against foreigners was that a large number of them that were undocumented.

He said one of the objectives of the meeting between the South African authorities and heads of missions focused on how to reduce the number of undocumented foreigners in the country.

HE confirmed, too, that evacuating Nigerians in the country is not an option for now, as none of them has been attacked judging by information at the disposal of the ministry.

On the uprising in Yemen, Dankano explained that 46 families had been documented by the ministry for onward evacuation to Nigeria.

“We are in touch with Nigerians in Yemen and they are safe where they are. We do not have a mission in Yemen but we are coordinating their evacuation through the Nigerian mission in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“We are also in touch with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to safeguard their lives and property. They will be evacuated any moment from now; the logistics are being put in place.”

Earlier, Ikechukwu Anyene, president of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, urged the federal government to help halt the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in that country.

Anyene said Nigerians resident in some South African cities had gone into hiding to avoid being attacked by natives.

More than 800,000 Nigerians are living in South Africa.