Xenophobic Attack: South African Companies Leave Nigeria – NANS
By Victor Ernest with agency report
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given all South African companies in Nigeria 48 hours to relocate over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
The students gave the ultimatum at a demonstration at some South African companies in Abuja on Thursday.
During the protest the students carried placards and a banner, which read, “NANS Against Xenophobic Attacks on Nigerians.’’
The President of NANS, Kadiri Aruna, said in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria at the office of DSTV, a South African company, in Wuse 2, Abuja, that Nigerian students had resolved to condemn the attacks.
Aruna said that the protest would also serve as a warning to other countries who underrate Nigerians.
Students threaten to go on rampage
He said that after 48 hours, if nothing was done, messages would be sent to students in all university campuses to bring down MTN masts all over the country.
According to him, DSTV, Shoprite and other South african business empires in Nigeria would be affected as the union had put adequate strategies in place to make the action effective.
“I don’t want to say we will be barbaric but we will not be lawful in our actions, we will do it and face the consequences, enough of this rubbish,” he declared
Nigerians deserved better treatment – Aruna
Aruna stressed that the poor treatment being meted out to Nigerians was particularly insulting given the role Nigeria played in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa.
According to him, Nigeria contributed 80 percent of the freedom the South Africans are enjoying today because ”we saved them from the jaws of apartheid”.
The union president said that the situation was inhuman and for this reason all reasonable Nigerians must react.
The NANS president however called on the Federal Government not to wait until it gets out of hand before evacuating Nigerians from South Africa.
“Government should take extra-diplomatic measures in dealing with the latest deadly assaults because if nothing drastic is done it will become a regular occurrence,” he said.
