Nigeria promises to act against xenophobic attacks in South Africa

The Nigerian government has said it will take “definitive measures” as xenophobic attacks against Nigerian-owned businesses continue in South Africa.

Describing the attacks as sickening, Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama says South African police protection for Nigerian businesses has been “ineffective”.

The President of Nigeria Union South Africa, Adetola Olubola declared in a statement, that many foreign-owned businesses were destroyed by South Africans in escalating xenophobic rages.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chair of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, has, however, insisted that a call for the expulsion of South African businesses from Nigeria does not reflect the strong bilateral relations between the two countries.

Nigerian officials describe perpetrators of the recent attacks as carried out by “thugs” and “criminals”.

Many South Africans have accused immigrants of seizing available jobs opportunities in a country where the unemployment rate is at 24 per cent.