The Federal Government says it will pursue compensation for businesses and properties left behind by Nigerians returning from South Africa under its voluntary evacuation programme.
Nigeria’s Acting 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 evacuees was expected to arrive in Lagos.
Ajayi explained that the government had begun documenting businesses and assets abandoned by returnees who chose to leave South Africa ahead of planned anti-immigration protests.
“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,” he said.
He added that the returnees had been instructed to accurately record all movable and immovable assets, including businesses, vehicles and other properties, to enable the Nigerian government engage South African authorities on compensation.
“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,” Ajayi stated.
The envoy stressed that the evacuation exercise would not end with bringing Nigerians home, saying the government was determined to ensure that years of investment by affected citizens were not lost.
“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 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,” he said.
Ajayi also dismissed claims that most Nigerians residing in South Africa were undocumented, maintaining that many entered the country legally but became affected by delays in the renewal of immigration documents.
“In the last three or four years, there has been a deluge of applications at the South African Home Office which were not attended to due to systemic issues,” he said, adding that many migrants had valid applications pending for years.
According to him, describing such individuals as undocumented was inaccurate because they had complied with immigration procedures before the delays occurred.
The latest evacuation followed the departure of an Air Peace aircraft from Nigeria on Monday to bring back another group of Nigerians who volunteered to return home amid rising anti-immigration tensions in South Africa.
The repatriation comes as anti-immigration groups prepare demonstrations from June 30, prompting the Federal Government to intensify efforts to evacuate willing Nigerians.
Meanwhile, former Nigerian Ambassador to Switzerland, Joseph Ayalogu, has also called on Nigeria and other African countries to demand compensation from the South African government for victims of xenophobic attacks.
Speaking on the same Channels Television programme, Ayalogu condemned attacks on businesses owned by foreign nationals and urged South African authorities to enforce existing laws to protect migrants.
“It’s unfortunate that they are targeting people’s businesses. I have seen some of the posts… deliberately going to people’s businesses and taking over their businesses. It’s unfortunate, and the government has to even begin to think of compensating even the people who have lost their livelihood and investments there,” he said.
He further urged African governments to adopt a stronger diplomatic approach in engaging Pretoria over the recurring attacks, saying he remained dissatisfied with the South African government’s response to repeated incidents of xenophobic violence.
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