Xenophobia: Protest spread across Nigeria against South Africa

A wave of retaliatory attacks on businesses with South African interest spread across major Nigerian cities yesterday as protesters targeted Shoprite, MTN and Multichoice outlets in Ikeja, Lekki in Lagos among others establishments in the country in response to rising Xenophobic uprising against Nigerians.

Although the protesters were prevented from burning the businesses targeted in yesterday’s protest by security agencies, it was learnt that management of the organisations have promptly shut down their various offices in Lagos, Abuja and other cities to prevent possible human and material losses.

It was reported that at least one person was feared killed as police shot into the air to disperse the protesters around the Lekki axis of Lagos.

The protesters, who attempted to break into mall of South Africa-owned Shoprite were resisted by policemen on ground.

To forestal any incident, the Ikeja branch of Shoprite hurriedly shut down yesterday.

The retaliatory move by Nigerians came after reports of violence against Nigerians living in South Africa went viral.

Earlier on Tuesday, MTN a leading South African telecommunications company issued a statement condemning Xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in their home country.

Ferdi Moolman, the telecomunications company boss in a statement on Tuesday said, “MTN Nigeria strongly condemns hate, prejudice and xenophobia and reiterate our unequivocal condemnation of all violence.

We seek to connect people, bring people together and provide a platform for everyone’s voice to be heard.

“We are against all forms of bigotry and discrimination; they should have no place in society.

“Everyone has the right to a world where their rights and freedoms are respected – the right to live and earn a living, freely, safely and protected by the law.”

At the time of filing this report, there were unconfirmed reports of attacks on an MTN office in Uyo.

In July, MTN had directed its staff to stay away from its offices after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) threatened to picket its outlets.

Most of those in support of the retaliatory protests have described the xenophobic attack on Nigerians in South Africa, saying the barbaric, even as others insist that the shut down call was uncalled for if the Federal Government can step in to engage its South Africa counterpart in a dialogue over the unwarranted kiling and attacks on Nigerian business interests.