The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the losses, damages and casualties suffered by Nigerians in South Africa, as a result of the xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals in the country.
Consequently, the House mandated its Committee on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Integration in Africa to undertake the probe and report back to it within four weeks for further legislative actions.
The Joint Committee is also expected to take inventory of property abandoned by Nigerians in South Africa, owing to previous and recent xenophobic attacks in the country.
It is required to thereafter, recommend appropriate diplomatic initiatives, legal mechanisms and bilateral engagements to ensure accountability and enhance protection of Nigerians resident in South Africa, as well as ensure effective implementation of relevant international human rights obligations.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Babajimi Benson, calling on the House to investigate the losses suffered by Nigerians in South Africa as a result of the recent xenophobia in the country.
Benson, in his motion, argued that Nigeria was one of the foremost architects of South Africa’s liberation, stating that enormous resources were committed to free the Southern African country from apartheid.
Nonetheless, the lawmaker stated that Nigerians living in South Africa had for nearly two decades been victims of xenophobic violence characterised by killings, mob attacks, physical assaults, arson, looting of businesses, destruction of properties, forced displacement, intimidation and hate campaigns principally directed at African migrants.
According to him, “significant outbreaks of xenophobic violence were recorded in 2008, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and on several occasions thereafter, each resulting in renewed diplomatic tensions between both countries, emergency evacuations of Nigerian citizens and repeated assurances by the South African Government that adequate preventive measures would be implemented.
“The recent resurgence of coordinated anti-foreigner campaigns and inflammatory rhetoric by groups such as Operation Dudula and similar organisations created widespread fear among Nigerian residents, with many reportedly abandoning homes, businesses and investments, while seeking emergency evacuation following threats and unlawful ultimatums issued against foreign African nationals.
“Successive sessions of the National Assembly have, on several occasions, debated motions condemning xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa, expressed sympathy with victims and urged diplomatic engagement between both Governments, but none has culminated in a comprehensive legislative enquiry to establish the actual number of Nigerians killed, injured, displaced or the aggregate economic losses suffered by Nigerian citizens over the years.”
Benson expressed worry that every successive wave of xenophobic violence has been followed by public condemnation and diplomatic protests without a corresponding institutional effort to comprehensively document the losses suffered by Nigerians.
This, according to him, has denied the Nigerian government an authoritative evidential basis for policy formulation, legislative intervention and sustained diplomatic negotiations.
Credit: The Sun