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South Africa: We Hope Nigerian Police Will Continue To Protect Us

September 5, 2019

He stated that the South African commission has been giving advice to its citizens on volatile areas in Nigeria and how to stay out of harm's way till they are ready to come back to South Africa.

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The South African government has expressed optimism that the Nigeria Police Force will continue to protect South Africans and their businesses in Nigeria.

Lunga Ngqengelele, the spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said this while speaking on eNCA, a South Africa-based media.

He also disclosed the South African High Commission in Lagos, Nigeria has shut down operations temporarily.

He said the shut down was necessitated by the need for safety of workers in the commission, stating that the country has received reports that its citizens in Nigeria are being targeted.

He said: "We do receive reports from Nigeria that some of the people have been trying to attack businesses belonging to South Africa. Out of safety and concerns for the safety of the employees of the embassy, a decision was taken that we temporarily shut down while we are assessing the situation and ensure that no one is injured in the process."

Ngqengelele said the South African government had been in talks with the Nigerian government and was pleased that some of those who vandalized businesses belonging to South Africans were arrested. 

"Yesterday, police tried to quell the uprising from Nigerians who attacked the businesses. We understand that some of them were arrested and we are pleased that no loss of life was experienced yesterday and we hope that the police will continue to protect us," he said.

He stated that the South African commission has been giving advice to its citizens on volatile areas in Nigeria and how to stay out of harm's way till they are ready to come back to South Africa.

He claimed no African leader boycotted the World Economic Forum because of the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

He said leaders who cancelled had notified prior to the riot that led to the destruction of foreign businesses in the country. 

"We have quite a number of presidents that have started arriving since Monday. As I am talking to you, we have a room full of people, so we don't know this story about people boycotting WEF because of an uprising," he said.