Reps To Reconvene Over Xenophobic Attack

House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila Tuesday cut short his trip to the 50th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Tanzania to reconvene the House from recess.

“Will be cutting short my trip to Tanzania for the 50th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference @CPA_Secretariat and will be leaving today, for the leadership of the @HouseNGR to consider cutting short the recess and reconvening for one day to address the killings of Nigerians in SA,” Gbajabiamila said on Twitter.

The speaker’s decision followed Nigerians call for the lawmakers to take action on the attack on Nigerians and their businesses in South Africa. The lawmakers were scheduled to resume on September 17.

Adetola Olubajo, the president of Nigeria Union South Africa, an association of Nigerian residents in the country said in a statement Monday that many foreign-owned businesses were destroyed by South Africans in escalating xenophobic rages.

“Nigerian-owned businesses were seriously affected,” Olubajo said. “A car sales business owned by a Nigerian were among the several businesses set ablaze over the night.”

“Although the Police said that many people had been arrested in connection with the unnecessary attacks, the looting and burning of foreign-owned businesses continued till Monday morning.”

Apart from the attacks on Nigerian businesses, many Nigerians have been killed in the country.

Reports say about 118 Nigerians have been killed in the country in recent years. Some were said to have been killed by the country’s policemen.

Nigerian officials insisted that the recent attacks on Nigerian businesses in South Africa were carried out by “thugs” and “criminals”.

“It was so sad that Nigerians were humiliated and traumatized again in South Africa by thugs,” Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the chair of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission said.