The Nigerian government will engage with the South African government to seek compensation for Nigerians forced to leave behind businesses and properties amid anti-immigrant protests, Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi says.
Ajayi disclosed this during a television broadcast as another batch of Nigerians prepared to arrive under the Federal Government’s ongoing voluntary evacuation programme. He clarified that those being repatriated are individuals who voluntarily opted to return home ahead of the latest planned anti-immigrant protests.
He further noted that the Federal Government has begun documenting the businesses and properties abandoned by returnees to ensure adequate compensation is pursued systematically.
“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,” Ajayi said. “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 before this set due to land. I have asked them to document very accurately those things they were leaving behind in terms of businesses, cars, and movable or immovable properties. We can now take it up with the South African government. That is the next step we are going to take.”
He emphasized that the process extends far beyond the physical evacuation of citizens.
“This repatriation will not end with just taking people to Nigeria,” he explained. “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