NIGERIANS living in South Africa are
counting their losses to the on-going
xenophobic attacks in the former apartheid
enclave.
The losses, according to Nigerian Consul-
General in South Africa, Ambassador Uche
Ajulu-Okeke, include: looted shops, razed
ware points, two torched mechanic
workshops, 11 burnt cars and two stolen
cars.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN), Ambassador Ajulu-Okeke yesterday
put the value of the losses in the
neighbourhood of 1.2 million Rand (about
N21 million).
She told NAN by phone from
Johannesburg, the South African capital,
Nigeria was keeping records of the attacks
on its citizens.
“Nigerians have compiled damage to their
property and it is totalling about 1.2 million
Rand or N21 million, which will be sent to
the Federal Government for further action,’’
she was quoted as saying.
The President of the Nigerian Union in
South Africa, Mr. Ikechukwu Anyene,
confirmed that efforts were being made by
the association in collaboration with the
Nigerian Mission to resettle those affected.
He said Nigerians living in Jeppes, a town
near Johannesburg, were mostly affected
by the attacks.
Ikechukwu said: “We met about 300
Nigerians in Jeppes town, near
Johannesburg, who fled for their safety
and about 50 of them do not have any
place to stay.
“We are making arrangements with the
Nigerian mission in South Africa to get
them a place to stay for their safety.
“The Nigerian union has also presented
relief materials to those affected by the
attacks and we are in touch with various
branch chapters of the union in the
provinces on their safety and security.”
The envoy said that in Durban, two of the
three Nigerians who were wounded during
the attacks had been treated and
discharged from the hospital.
The consul-general promised to return to
Durban to assess the situation and meet
with the provincial authority on security of
Nigerians in that Province.
Her words: “The Nigerian mission in South
Africa is on top of the situation. We are
working hard to protect Nigerians in South
Africa.
“Though, the task has not been easy, we
are trying our best. In one of the hot spots
at Jeppe, near Johannesburg, the mission
assisted about 50 stranded Nigerians to
re-settle.
“I have also visited the site of the attacks
in Johannesburg to assess the damage
and it was enormous.”
She assured that the Nigerian mission
would meet with all Nigerian Union
chapters in the nine provinces of South
Africa to find strategies on how to check
the attacks.
“I am bringing all Nigerians together so
that we work out a vigilance and alert
mechanism; they will also tell me what
their challenges and issues are,” she said.
Mrs. Ajulu-Okeke said the mission and the
Nigerian Union had been working cordially
to meet the challenges caused by the
xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.
