S’African minister’s comments on xenophobic attacks unacceptable —FG

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters, Mrs. Abike
Dabiri-Erewa, has called on the South African
Government to educate its citizens on the contributions
of Nigeria to the former apartheid enclave.
She noted that Nigeria and South Africa had a long-
standing diplomatic relationship in which the former
played a critical, if not a pivotal role that culminated in
ending apartheid, among so many of her positive
interventions.
The presidential aide in a statement on Sunday in
Abuja stated that the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians
and other immigrants could not be resolved by
diplomatic niceties, stressing that the Federal
Government would not fold her arms while its citizens
were being killed.
Her statement was in reaction to the position of South
Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba, that
there was no need for the African Union intervention in
the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other
immigrants.
Dabiri-Erewa described Gigaba’s statement as
unfortunate and unacceptable and restated her earlier
call for AU intervention in the attacks on foreigners in
South Africa.
She said, “It appears that Mr. Gigaba would rather
dwell on and entertain himself with diplomatic niceties
when the welfare of Nigerians resident in South Africa
are at stake now more than any time in recent history.
“Mr. Gigaba’s response to the mayhem that a segment
of the South African people perpetrated on law-abiding
Nigerians in South Africa smirks of insensitivity, and
it’s therefore very reprehensible, if not unacceptable.
“In view of this unfortunate statement, I am therefore
restating my earlier call on the African Union to take up
the South Africa’s xenophobic issue as a matter of
urgency.”
The SSA noted that law-abiding Nigerians in the
former apartheid enclave had borne the major brunt of
xenophobic attacks, noting that the statement by
Gigaba that his country was trying to get rid of
criminals in his country at this time was very
suspicious.
“Even if this unguarded statement must be taken in its
face value, we wonder if wanton destruction and
indiscriminate killing of their African brothers is the
most sensible excuse to give,” she said.
Also, a human rights group, the Socio-Economic
Rights and Accountability Project, has urged the
Southern African Development Community to
investigate and punish the people behind the
persistent xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other
foreign nationals living in South Africa.
The group made the call on Sunday in an open letter
by its Executive Director, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, to
the Chairperson, SADC, King Mswati III of Swaziland.
It urged the SADC to convene an emergency summit of
the SADC heads of state and government to discuss
the persistent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
SERAP urged the SADC to use its “organ on politics,
defence and security cooperation within SADC to
immediately set up an independent and impartial body
to investigate all acts of xenophobic attacks on
Nigerians and other foreign nationals.
“The investigation’s findings and recommendations
should be made public, suspected perpetrators brought
to justice and victims must enjoy the right to an
effective remedy and reparation.”
The letter read in part, “SERAP is seriously concerned
about the apparent complicity of the South African
authorities and officials in the persistent and serious
human rights violations and abuses against
thousands of Nigerians living in the country, and/or
the failure of the authorities to exercise due diligence to
prevent those violations and abuses.”


SOURCE... PUNCH