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Xenophobia: South Africa must pay compensation to victims -FG

Ismaila Sanni
Ismaila Sanni
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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama

Nigeria will insist on the payment of compensation for the properties of Nigerians destroyed by South Africans in the last xenophobic attacks.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, made this known on Thursday when he spoke with journalists after a meeting with the Senate Committee on Diaspora in Abuja.

Onyeama spoke against the background of the report that the South African government said nothing provided for compensation.

The minister said Nigeria would challenge the position of the South African government on that.

He said that no compensation was paid in the past, but this time around the government would insist.

His words:  “This is a very important issue because the South African government has been reported as saying that nothing provides for them really to provide compensation.

“That they will have to resort to insurance companies or that kind of private arrangement. We as a government are going to challenge that. In the past, no compensation was paid to these people. For us, it is something we have to insist upon.”

The minister said the government along with the senators was considering measures to ensure that Nigerians did not suffer a similar fate in the future.

“We are particularly determined that these crises will not recur. It has been happening for far too long and has become almost endemic.

“With the distinguished Senators, we are looking at all the options we have to ensure this will be the last time we will ever meet to talk about Nigerians attacked in South Africa and to take definitive measures. But we will start doing that once we have the facts and we will take the necessary measures,” Onyeama stated.

The minister also spoke on the possibility of severing relationship with South Africa over the current issue.

According to him, the action of the government would depend on the outcome of the meeting of the special envoy sent by the president to South Africa.

Said he:  “There are various options. We will wait for the envoy to come back. There are different measures to be taken at diplomatic level without necessarily cutting off diplomatic ties, but we want Mr President’s decision to be informed after accessing all the facts.

“The way the South African government reacts will also be very important in helping us decide what we need to do.”

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