PHOTOS: Infants, Nursing Mothers, Other Nigerians Depart South Africa Over Xenophobia
Infants and nursing mothers were among the first batch of Nigerians that departed South Africa on Wednesday morning over the Xenophobic attacks on foreigners in that country.
Their departure from the country is coming in the wake of two successive attacks and looting of foreign-owned shops by South Africans in the last two weeks.
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Nigerians’ exit from the country is also coming after a meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari’s special envoy to President Cyril Ramaphosa on the xenophobic attacks in the latter’s country.
The special envoy, who is the Director-General of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai-Abubakar, returned from the South Africa this week and submitted his report to the president.
But despite a series of meetings between top officials of the two countries, there has not been any reassurance against further xenophobic attacks from the South African authorities.
Instead, South Africa’s Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor, had alleged that Nigerians in the country mostly deal in drugs and harm its citizens, adding that the country was no longer going to tolerate them.
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“Help us address the belief and the reality that our people have that there are many persons from Nigeria, who are dealing in drugs in our country, who are harming our young people by making drugs easily available to them,” Pandor told eNCA, adding that the Nigerian Government must help South Africa rid its country of drug dealers and human traffickers from Nigeria.
“The belief that Nigerian nationals are involved in human trafficking and other abusive practices. This kind of assistance in ensuring that such people don’t come to our country would be of great assistance to our nation,” said Pandor.
Buhari, on Tuesday, ordered the evacuation of Nigerians who are willing to return from South Africa after receiving the report of the special envoy he sent to Ramaphosa.
Below are photos of some Nigerians departing Nigeria’s Embassy in Pretoria for the airport.
