The federal government will seek reparations from South Africa for Nigerians compelled to leave behind businesses and other assets as they voluntarily return home ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests.
Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Mr Alexander Ajayi, disclosed the plan on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, as another batch of evacuees was expected to arrive in Lagos under the government’s voluntary evacuation programme.
Mr Ajayi said the Nigerian government had instructed returnees to comprehensively document all businesses, vehicles, shops and other movable and immovable properties they were leaving behind to facilitate formal engagement with the South African authorities.
“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.
“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 I told them to be very accurate with what they are going to give because we are going to work with the South African government to get to the exact locations of all these businesses, shops and properties 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,” Mr Ajayi said.
According to him, Nigerian officials had already initiated discussions with South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Finance on the matter and would systematically verify the information provided by returnees before presenting claims for possible compensation.
He stressed that the evacuation exercise would not end with bringing Nigerians home, adding that the government was determined to ensure that years of investment and hard work by its citizens were not lost without redress.
The envoy also rejected claims that most Nigerians living in South Africa were undocumented, arguing that many entered the country legally but became victims of prolonged delays in the renewal of immigration documents due to administrative backlogs at the country’s Home Office.
He explained that the delays affected many foreign nationals, not only Nigerians, making it inaccurate to classify them as undocumented migrants.
Meanwhile, an Air Peace aircraft departed Nigeria on Monday to evacuate another group of Nigerians who voluntarily opted to return ahead of demonstrations planned by anti-immigration groups from June 30.
The federal government has continued its voluntary evacuation programme for Nigerians willing to leave South Africa as tensions over anti-immigrant protests persist.