A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN, on Tuesday said he was shocked that the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, has refused to make a clear statement on recent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
“It is shocking that President Zuma of South Africa has not made a clear statement. I feel the response of the Nigerian Government has been very weak.
“All Nigerians condemn in the strongest possible terms the completely unwarranted and unprovoked attack on Nigerians in South Africa. There can be no excuse for this outrageous behaviour especially in the context of good neighbourly relations between South Africa and Nigeria,” Agbakoba said.
He said Nigeria stood by their brothers and sisters in the Southern African country in hour of need during the apartheid years, adding that this is not the best way to repay us.
Agbakoba also called for the recall of the Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa as a way of showing the country’s displeasure to the behaviors of some South Africans.
He said, “our Foreign Minister should summon the South African Commissioner in Nigeria to convey our disappointment at the behaviour of some South Africans.”
He stated that the South African government has to know that the xenophobic behaviour of its people does not in any way sit well with Nigerians and that it is capable of producing grave consequences for Nigerian- South African relations, if not stopped.
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