The Federal Government has said it will engage the South African government to seek compensation for Nigerians returning home under its voluntary evacuation programme after abandoning businesses and properties amid renewed anti-immigrant tensions in South Africa.
Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Alexander Ajayi, disclosed this on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
Ajayi said the affected Nigerians voluntarily opted to return home ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests in South Africa, adding that another batch of returnees was expected to arrive in Lagos under the Federal Government’s evacuation arrangement.
According to him, the Nigerian government has begun documenting businesses, shops, cars and other movable and immovable properties left behind by the returnees, with a view to formally taking up the matter with South African authorities.
“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,” Ajayi said.
He explained that the returnees had been asked to provide accurate details of the assets they were abandoning before leaving South Africa.
“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,” he added.
The envoy said the evacuation exercise would not end with simply bringing Nigerians back home, stressing that the Federal Government would follow up on the information provided by the returnees.
According to him, the government intends to work with South African authorities to locate the affected businesses, shops and properties and pursue possible compensation for those who invested their resources in the country.
“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,” Ajayi said.
He added that the Nigerian government would not allow years of labour and investment by its citizens to be lost or taken over without proper engagement.
“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 rejected claims that most Nigerians living in South Africa were undocumented migrants.
He said many of the affected Nigerians entered South Africa legally but became victims of delays in the renewal of immigration documents by the South African Home Office.
“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. So, because of this, many, not only Nigerian nationals, were caught in this web of delay,” he said.
The envoy argued that it would be unfair to describe such persons as undocumented when their immigration problems were largely caused by administrative delays.
“So, you cannot rightly claim that these were undocumented because most of them came to the country legally in terms of how somebody should migrate,” he said.
Ajayi said many Nigerians and other foreign nationals had submitted renewal applications but were left waiting for years due to the backlog at the South African Home Office.
The voluntary evacuation follows renewed concern over anti-immigrant protests and xenophobic attacks targeting foreign nationals, including Nigerians, in South Africa.
Earlier reports indicated that more than 1,000 Nigerians had registered interest in returning home from South Africa following the rise in attacks and threats against foreign nationals.
The Nigerian government had also commenced screening of those willing to return, in collaboration with relevant South African authorities.
The latest position by the High Commission indicates that the Federal Government may now pursue the issue beyond evacuation by demanding accountability for losses suffered by Nigerians who left behind businesses, shops, vehicles and other property.
Ajayi said the High Commission would continue to work with the returnees, Nigerian authorities and the South African government to ensure that documented claims are properly followed up.
The development comes amid renewed calls for stronger diplomatic engagement between Nigeria and South Africa over recurring attacks on Nigerians and other African migrants in South Africa.
