Lai Mohammed Warns Against Reprisal over Xenophobic Attacks in South-Africa

Lai Mohammed Warns Against Reprisal over Xenophobic
Attacks in South-Africa

You are all aware of the xenophobic attacks against Nigerians –
and of course other foreigners – in South Africa, and the huge
costs, in human and material terms, to Nigerians living in South
Africa. Those attacks have escalated in recent times, with deadly
consequences. You are also aware of the reprisal attacks that have
targetted South African businesses in Nigeria.

2. The efforts of the Federal Government to decisively deal with
the attacks have been well communicated to Nigerians. For the
purpose of this press conference, however, let me quickly remind us
that President Muhammadu Buhari has dispatched a Special Envoy to
convey to his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, his
concerns and also interact with his South African counterpart on
the situation.

Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama,
acting on the instruction of Mr. President, has summoned the South
African High Commissioner to Nigeria to get a brief on the
situation; express Nigeria’s displeasure over the treatment of her
citizens; and secure assurance of the safety of their lives and
property. Nigeria is recalling its High Commissioner to South
Africa, in addition to boycotting the World Economic Forum on
Africa being hosted by South Africa. And plans are on to evacuate
Nigerians who are willing to return home from South Africa. Of
course, a number of other measures are also being considered by the
government to keep Nigerians in South Africa safe.

3. But the purpose of this press conference is to reiterate the
appeal to Nigerians, who are justifiably angered by the attacks on
their compatriots in South Africa, not to resort to self help by
carrying out reprisal attacks against South African businesses in
Nigeria; to alert Nigerians to the fact that some unscrupulous
people are engaging in disinformation to inflame passion by using
fake news and videos of non-related attacks; to very strongly warn
the naysayers and hoodlums who might want to capitalise on the
widespread disenchantment and anger of Nigerians over the attacks
in South Africa to foment mayhem, and to appeal to Nigerians,
especially opinion leaders, not to allow raw emotions to guide
their response to the attacks.

4. I will take the issues one by one, starting with the attacks
on South African businesses in Nigeria. Reports of these attacks,
which have dominated the social and traditional media in the past
two days, are quite disturbing and depressing. Obviously, hoodlums
have hijacked the peaceful protests by some Nigerians to loot shops
at Shoprite and other Malls in some locations across the country. A
Nigerian lady whose shop was looted at the Novare Mall in Lagos
said she lost millions of naira to the hoodlums who looted her
shop. The offices of the MTN nationwide have either been attacked
or threatened. Other South African firms have either shut their
doors or are open under heavy security. As we said in our
intervention on Tuesday, Nigerians own and run the shops in the
various Shoprite malls across the country. Nigerians work there
also. MTN is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the
investors in this company are Nigerians. Theworkers are mostly
Nigerians. Same applies to other South African businesses in the
country. By attacking them, we are hurting our own people. That is
the blunt truth.

5. Some hoodlums have also targetted foreigners under the guise
of protesting against the xenophobic attacks in South Africa. This
is saddening. If we are complaining that South Africans are
attacking Nigerians in South Africa, how then can we tolerate
Nigerians attacking Nigerians and foreigners right here in Nigeria?
What purpose do such attacks serve, other that for Nigerians to
lose their investments and jobs? Must we cut our nose to spite our
face? It is in this light that I want to assure all Nigerians, and
indeed foreigners living in Nigeria, that the Federal Government
has put in place adequate security measures to protect the lives
and property of all. The security agencies have been put on high
alert, and looters will be arrested and made to face justice.

6. I also want to use this press conference to alert Nigerians
to the video clips being circulated on the social media,
purportedly showing how Nigerians are being killed in South Africa.
Three of such videos come to mind:

i. One video shows a man who has been set ablaze trying to
escape, and those circulating the video identified the man as
Nigerian. This is not true. The video shows Mozambican Ernesto
Alfabeto Nhamuave, a victim of xenophobic violence in South Africa
in 2008, and it is not that of a Nigerian being attacked in
2019.

ii. Another video shows those said to be Nigerians jumping down
from a multi-storey building that was purportedly set on fire by
xenophobic attackers in South Africa. This is fake news as the
video is that of a Suraj Coaching Centre in Gujarat State, India,
that was gutted by fire on May 24, 2019, leaving about 18 people
dead.

iii. The third video, purportedly showing the bodies of
Nigerians who were burnt in xenophobic attacks, is the raw footage
of those who were killed in a Tanzanian fuel tanker explosion in
Morogoro that left at least 60 dead on Aug. 10 2019.

7. Those who are circulating these videos should immediately
desist from doing so. Apart from inflaming passion, the videos are
also complicating the efforts of the government to calm frayed
nerves at home in the wake of the xenophobic attacks in South
Africa. Recall, gentlemen, that we alerted Nigerians to the dangers
posed by fake news and disinformation when we launched our National
Campaign Against Fake News on July 11 2019. That campaign is more
urgent now than ever, and I implore the media, in particular, to
give it a renewed play. Fake news and disinformation represent a
clear and present danger to every society.

8. We want to appeal to our opinion leaders and celebrities to
be guarded in their utterances and comments on the xenophobic
attacks and the reactions from Nigerians. Words have meaning, and
wrong words are like poisoned darts. In the words of the Buddha,
”Better than a thousand hollowed words, is one word that brings
peace.”

9. In conclusion, gentlemen, we want to reiterate the
following:

i. The Federal Government will leave no stone unturned to
protect Nigerian citizens anywhere around the world, including
South Africa where they have been subjected to repeated xenophobic
attacks, with terrible consequences that include loss of lives and
property

ii. President Muhammadu Buhari has dispatched a special envoy
tomeet with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa,
whileForeign Affairs Minister Geoffrey has summoned the South
African High Commissioner to Nigeria. Of course you are aware that
Nigeria is recalling its High Commissioner to South Africa, in
addition to boycotting the World Economic Forum on Africa taking
place in South Africa. Government is also ready to evacuate
Nigerians willing to
return home from South Africa, in addition to other measures being
considered to decisively tackle this cankerworm of xenophobic
attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

iii. We appeal to Nigerians who are angered by the xenophobic
attacks on their compatriots in South Africa not to engage in
reprisal attacks, because such attacks hurt our own people more. We
also want Nigerians to know that wrong videos and disinformation
are being circulated on social media to inflame passion and distort
the plight of Nigerians in South Africa. Nigerians should be wary
of the purveyors of these wrong videos. We strongly warn hoodlums
who may wish to hide under the peaceful protests by Nigerians to
loot, maim and kill that the security agencies will apprehend and
bring them to justice. And to opinion leaders, we ask that they be
guarded in their comments.

Lai Mohammed
Minister of Information and Culture