The South African government has reassured Nigerians that it is doing everything possible to quell the xenophobic attacks and bring the culprits to book.
South Africa’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, gave the assurance on Friday at a press conference held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
The briefing was jointly organised by the South African government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Brought Under Control
Mr Mnguni told reporters that the situation had been brought under control, with the deployment of soldiers around violence prone areas on Tuesday.
He said certain measures of temporary relief and shelter were being provided to the foreigners affected.
Condemning the attacks that started about three weeks ago and had claimed seven lives, the High Commissioner emphasised that no South African had the right to unleash violence on fellow Africans.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ambassador Danjuma Sheni, also assured reporters that the Nigerian government was in a nonstop dialogue with the South African government to find lasting solutions to the crisis.
Anti-migrants’ protests started in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Johannesburg, with locals burning and looting businesses of foreigners
In an attempt to address relations that may have frayed as a result of the attacks on foreigners, President Jacob Zuma had a closed-door meeting with various foreign national groups and African civil society groups to seek an end to Xenophobic Attacks.
