More Nigerians may be killed in S’Africa, others, Lawan warns

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, warned that if
adequate steps are not put in place, more Nigerians may be killed
in foreign countries, especially in South Africa.

Lawan issued the warning when the immediate-past Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama appeared before the Senate
for his confirmation hearing.

Lawan said: “I personally met with the South African High
Commissioner to Nigeria. If we don’t get things in place, more
Nigerians may be killed abroad. Even if Nigerians commit crimes,
killing them should not be the first option. This has got to
stop.

“I have written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I have asked
them to furnish us with names of Nigerians killed in South Africa
so far. We are going to write to the South African government and
we will put an end to these killings.”

Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, in his reaction,
decried the maltreatment of Nigerians by officials of American
Embassy. He said something must be done to ensure that Nigerians
get fair treatment without any harassment.

He also decried some unfair treatments Nigerians businessmen
contend with in some West African countries and called on nominee
to address the issues if deployed to foreign affairs.

Onyeama said a framework has been formed, where the presidents
of Nigeria and South Africa will meet regularly to talk about more
bilateral agreements on how to solve some of the issues.

On the issue of non-payment of salaries of staff of the embassy
in Washington DC, Onyeama said allocations and release to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a major setback in meeting the
financial obligations of foreign service staff.

He said one of the ways out is to reduce the number of foreign
missions, maintaining that Nigeria should focus on missions it
could finance rather than over-stretching its finances.

He said he raised the issue at one point during the Federal
Executive Council meeting on how to fund foreign missions or reduce
them if necessary.

On maltreatment of Nigerians and non-issuance of visas, he said
the country should develop an adequate response strategy to
reciprocate.

“Because of the situation in South Africa, I went there myself
and met with officials. I also met with Nigerians. There was a
trust deficit between the South African police and Nigerians. We
met with some government officials to have regular meetings with
Nigerian unions and high commission.

“The South African government is not complicit in the killing of
Nigerians. Whoever takes over as foreign affairs minister will have
to put in place a contact line to always be in contact with the
South African Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“We have worked on stolen funds. I worked with some countries to
ensure that funds were repatriated. Economic diplomacy is something
we should really push going forward.

“Senator Kalu raised a point about the treatment of Nigerian
businesses in foreign countries. We need to have more bilateral
meetings with these countries to resolve these issues.

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