The Federal Government has announced plans to seek compensation from the South African government for Nigerians forced to abandon their businesses and properties due to ongoing anti-immigrant tensions in the country.
Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, disclosed this on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, as another batch of Nigerians was expected to arrive in Lagos under the Federal Government’s voluntary evacuation programme.
Ajayi explained that the latest group of returnees consists of Nigerians who voluntarily chose to leave South Africa ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests.
According to him, the Nigerian government has begun compiling records of businesses, vehicles and other properties left behind by returnees and will formally engage South African authorities on compensation.
“In terms of the businesses, just three days ago, myself and the South African Deputy Minister of Finance were together and we were discussing this. I took up the discussion with her and we have agreed that we are going to ask our people who are returning to begin to document what they are leaving behind, and that was the message yesterday before this set that is due to land in Lagos.
“I have asked them before they left yesterday to document very accurately those things they were leaving behind in terms of businesses, in terms of even cars, movable and immovable properties. We can now take it up with the South African government. That is the next step we are going to take.
“So, this repatriation will not end with just taking people to Nigeria. We are going to systematically follow up on the information given to us, and I told them to be very accurate with what they are going to give because we are going to work with the South African government to get to the exact locations of all these businesses, shops and properties and present them to the South African government for possible compensation because we will not allow the labour people have suffered to build over the years to just go down the drain or be taken over by people,” Ajayi said.
The Acting High Commissioner also rejected claims that the majority of Nigerians living in South Africa are undocumented.
He argued that most Nigerians entered South Africa through legal immigration channels but later became affected by delays in the country’s immigration system.
“In the last three or four years there have been a deluge of applications at the South African Home Office which were not attended to due to systemic issues. So, because of this many, not only Nigerian nationals, were caught in this web of delay, so you cannot rightly claim that these were undocumented because most of them came to the country legally in terms of how somebody should migrate.
“So, it is on the basis of now wanting to renew their papers and get them when one expires that they were caught up in the unnecessary delays. So, when people try to say they were undocumented, I quite disagree with that because some of them, based on experience, have had their papers lag behind at the Home Office for years,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that an Air Peace aircraft departed Nigeria on Monday and was expected to return to Lagos on Tuesday morning with another group of Nigerians participating in the voluntary evacuation exercise.
The evacuation programme comes as anti-immigration groups in South Africa prepare for fresh demonstrations beginning June 30, prompting the Nigerian government to continue facilitating the return of citizens who have indicated a willingness to come home.
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