The Federal Government on
Wednesday declared that it had drawn battle line with South Africa over
xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, stated this when he addressed State House correspondents
after a closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.
Onyeama regretted that the
reports had distorted the situation and impacted on the federal government
response on the incident.
“Of course, a lot of things have
been circulating in social media which have not helped matters. Some of them
have really distorted the situation and because of that have impacted in our
response”, NAN quoted him as saying.
“So, number one is that the
information we have from the High Commission, from the Consul General in South Africa
is that no Nigerian life has been lost during this crisis.
“And I think that is very
important because on social media, there is a lot of stories going around of
Nigerians being killed, jumping off buildings and being burnt. This is not the
case.
“What we know is that premises,
shops of Nigerians have been looted and property destroyed,’’ he said.
According to Onyeama, a red line
has been drawn between Nigeria and South Africa over the lingering attacks,
noting that African countries have built consensus against the attacks.
“We want to assure all Nigerians
that this government is determined, that red line has been drawn and that we
will not cave in on this occasion.
“The South African government has
to assume its responsibilities and protect Nigerians in South Africa and we
have to hold them to account and they have to do that as well as pay full
compensation,’’ he added.
The minister confirmed that the
Ambassador of Nigeria to South Africa would soon be recalled for consultation,
adding “Enough is enough – we are going to address it once and for all this
time. This is the position of government.’’
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