When it seems that the heat of xenophobic attacks had subsidized in South, the attack took a fresh dimension as three Nigerians were among foreign nationals who were attacked and injured in different locations of Witbanks,Mpumanlaga province, South Africa on Tuesday.
Angry South Africans were went wild in the early hours of Tuesday as they attacked businesses owned by foreign nationals leaving some persons injured in the process.
‘Groups made up of community members and taxi drivers went to different areas in Witbanks attacking foreign-owned businesses and foreigners’,the national spokesperson for Nigeria Union ,South Africa ,Mr Odefa Ikele said.
Excel Magazine gathered that in the attack,three Nigerians were among the foreign nationals who suffered the fresh xenphobic attacks on Tuesday in South Africa.
‘Three Nigerians are injured but no death case for now.Some of our nationals are seeking refuge at Witbanks police station’, Mr Odefa added.
It will be recalled that the xenophobic violence which led to the death of many Nigerians and other foreign nationals in South Africa and destruction of their businesses in September and this ugly development moved the CEO of Air Peace ,Mr Allen Onyema to repatriate more than 187 Nigerians who were stranded in the country.
Mr Onyema admitted that a lot of gory things happened as some many Nigerians were stigmatized and stereotyped in Nigeria and he was moved to ensure their evacuations from their place of afflictions.
‘Some of you don’t even know the kind of stories they have got.A lot of things happened to these Nigerians.Some of them were stranded for the last 10-12 years with nowhere to go and afraid of to move around because they have over-stayed their permit.They stereotyped and stigmatized Nigerians.This evacuation was a lifeline for them and they grabbed it with both hands’,Mr Onyema said.
The fresh attack is coming on the heels of the peaceful meeting held in Pretoria on October 3,2019 between President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and his counterpart in South Africa,Cyril Ramaphosa where they agreed to put measures that will help to put an end to future outbreaks of xenophobic attacks.
In the meeting that was convened in Pretoria,the two presidents agreed to amicably resolve issues that could lead to any xenphobic attack in the future.
‘We have decided to work and take concrete measures together to prevent every occurrence of such unacceptable incidents in the future.We have agreed to set up mechanisms between two countries so that once we see that there is no restiveness.And at the same time,we will cooperate at a number of levels including the policing level, including the intelligence-sharing information,level’.Ramaphosa said after the meeting.
The fresh xenphobic attack could be seen as a big blow to the meeting that was convened earlier by leaders of South Africa and Nigeria with the view to forestalling future outbreaks of xenophobia.
