Why xenophobic attacks thrive in South Africa –NUSA President

…Says attacks extended to hospitals, schools

From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

The President-General, Nigeria Union South Africa (NUSA), Smart Nwobi, has accused South African politicians of fuelling xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals in the country.

Nwobi’s statement is sequel to the recent xenophobic attacks in some parts of South Africa, particularly in Durban, Johannesburg, and East London where foreigners, including Nigerians, were affected.

Nwobi, a lawyer, told Saturday Sun that it has become a custom in South Africa to target Nigerians unprovoked for purposes of xenophobic attacks.

Nwobi said: “As you know that this is election year, and in the build up to the preparations for the elections, the politicians, as well as their supporters, in order to have tangible political manifestoes or tangible, achievable things to give or policies for them to win elections, the cheapest way to win election in South Africa is to divert the attention of the locals and to tell them that the people are the cause of their unemployment; the cause of their non improvements is the foreigners in the country, whereas that is not true.

“I am the President of the Nigeria Union South Africa. We have continued to condemn the attacks on our nationals, attacks on our businesses, attacks on other foreign migrants in South Africa.”

Nwobi further said South Africans have forgotten the role the Nigerian government and its people played towards their liberation during the apartheid regime. Condemning the attacks, he disclosed that the xenophobic attacks have been extended to hospitals and schools.

“At a point in time, we were told that only undocumented, illegal foreign migrants were being targeted. But if you see some of these Operation Dudulas and similar illegal operations, they have now resulted to saying that all foreigners must go. They have resulted to a vigilanteism kind of attacks. They are not police officers, they are not immigration officers and they are not enforcement officers. They have inflicted numerous harms on our nationals,” Nwobi stated.

Nwobi called on the Federal Government, the National Assembly and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, to urgently look into the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Reacting to the development, the Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, said the recent crisis was as a result of the installation of an Igbo King in South Africa.

Ebienfa however said the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, is engaging effectively with the host authorities, adding that the issue had been resolved.