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Xenophobia: Nigerian Shop Owners At Lekki Shoprite Lament Losses After Reprisal Looting

September 4, 2019

One trader, who asked not to be named, said, “They should please help us, let the management verify our identities. I am very bitter --they looted everything and not one thing is remaining in my shop.

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Shop owners at the Shoprite outlet at Jakande, Lekki in Lagos, are counting their losses after an angry mob stormed the place and looted several times.

During a visit to the place on Wednesday, SaharaReporters came across embittered shop owners, who claimed to have lost their entire wares as a result of the invasion of the mall by the irate mob.

One trader, who asked not to be named, said, “They should please help us, let the management verify our identities. I am very bitter --they looted everything and not one thing is remaining in my shop.

“They assured us that nothing will happen, this morning I went there and everything in my shop is gone.”

A salesgirl with a popular restaurant identified as Beauty, said, “They sent a text message for us to come but why are they not letting us in. This is really terrible because our businesses have been affected.”

Disenchanted Nigerians took to the streets on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest and retaliate xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa by destroying businesses with connection to South Africans.

On Tuesday, one person was shot dead by the police in the ensuing chaos that greeted the Shoprite outlet in Jakande.