Chinelo Obogo
 
The Lagos State House of Assembly has demanded that the South African government be made to pay compensation to victims of the latest xenophobic attacks in the country.
The lawmakers said this during parliamentary sitting where many condemned the incident and called on the Nigerian government to further prove its will by supporting its citizens abroad.
 
Tunde Braimoh, raised the issue under ‘Matter of Urgent Importance’, recalling how Nigeria helped South Africa during the apartheid, wondering how the country suddenly decided that Nigerians are strangers.
He commended President Muhammdu Bubari and the National Assembly, for taking the right decisions, but also called on the government to give assistance to the victims to help cushion the effect of their loss. 
In his contribution, Bisi Yusuf asked that South Africa must compensate Nigeria but pleaded with Nigerians to stop destroying businesses linked to South Africa because some Nigerians are stakeholders in such interests.
Gbolahan Yishawu noted how the Nigerian government promptly responded to protests over xenophobia saying if the South African government did same, the situation would not have degenerated.
He discredited the claims that Nigerians in the country are criminals as according to him, many in the country are professionals. He said Nigeria must prove to South Africa and other countries that the lives of its citizens matter.
 
The Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, said Nigerians abroad should be able to enjoy government’s support while carrying out their legal activities.
Obasa further called on the government to push the recent attacks in South Africa to the attention of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN).
The Speaker, however, lamented that while the South Africans are killing Nigerians in their country, citizens are busy destroying businesses linked to South Africa but with Nigerian interest.
He cautioned the police against easy and excessive use of arms to curtail protests.
He noted that there had been protests in Hong Kong for days without any news of killing from the law enforcement agencies in the country.