By Favour Ulebor, Abuja
The Federal Government has said it will engage the South African government to seek compensation for Nigerians who were forced to abandon businesses and other valuable properties as they return home following renewed anti immigrant tensions in the country.
Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, disclosed this on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, as another batch of Nigerians was expected to arrive in Lagos under the Federal Government’s ongoing voluntary evacuation programme.
Ajayi explained that the government had already begun compiling records of businesses and properties left behind by returnees, adding that the information would form the basis of discussions with the South African authorities on possible compensation.
He said, “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, and that was the message yesterday before this set that is due to land in Lagos.
“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.
“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 because 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,” Ajayi said.
The Acting High Commissioner also dismissed claims that the majority of Nigerians living in South Africa are undocumented, insisting that most entered the country through legal immigration channels.
According to him, delays in the processing of immigration documents by South Africa’s Home Office have left many foreign nationals stranded despite having initially migrated legally.
He said, “In the last three or four years there have 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, 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.
“So, it is on the basis of now wanting to renew their papers and get them when one expires that they were caught up in the unnecessary delays. So, when people try to say they were undocumented, I quite disagree with that because some of them, based on experience, have had their papers lag behind at the Home Office for years”.
