For the 187 Nigerians who returned home from South Africa on
Wednesday, it is time to thank God for sparing their lives from the jaws
of death impelled by xenophobic attacks in the rainbow country. For
many of them it was a tough decision, but one they had to take after
their horrendous encounters with militants in the former apartheid
enclave, just like their counterparts from other African countries like
Zambian, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
From their testimonies, their plight was a case of search for greener
pastures turning sour. Besides the dislocation returning home will cause
them, the mental agony of having to count their losses is an eternal
torture. The returnees from different parts of the country said they had
been running from pillar to post to escape attacks as they made their
ways from different parts of South Africa into Johannesburg to be
documented for return to their country of birth.
They said they responded to the presidential directive that all
Nigerians in South Africa return home, as the Nigerian authorities in
Johannesburg had commenced documentation of the affected nationals
preparatory to their return home. The process of their return had been
accelerated by the gesture of indigenous carrier, Air Peace, which
deployed its Boeing 777 aircraft to bring back hundreds of Nigerians who
were trapped in the xenophobic conundrum.
As the aircraft arrived South Africa in the early hours of Wednesday,
more than 320 Nigerians who were set to return home were subjected to
security checks by Immigration authorities, who required them to carry
out fresh set of biometrics and subjected them to other humiliating
experiences, delaying them for 15 hours before they could embark on the
six-hour flight to Nigeria.
While it was a sweet-bitter experience to return home, emotions took the
greater part of them as they boarded the aircraft. Tears flowed freely
down their cheeks because reality of having to return home had dawned on
them.
As the aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in
Lagos, the cabin crew of Air Peace emerged with placards with the
inscription ‘Say No to Xenophobia.’ As they disembarked from the Boeing
777-200 which landed at exactly 9.32 at the hajj and cargo section of
the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, the returnees were in
high spirits, praising the airline, the Nigerian government and the
Nigerian Consul General for the great efforts made to evacuate them from
South Africa.
Horror tales from returnees
Some of the returnees told journalists at the airport that their
erstwhile South Africans hosts were fierce in their attacks on
Nigerians, going from house to house and from shop to shop, looting and
burning whatever they believed belonged to Nigerians.
Juwon Sadiku, an indigene of Oyo State, who said he was a businessman, regretted his long stay in South Africa, saying: “It
was a narrow escape from that hell called South Africa. Those people
are wicked. They hate Nigerians because of our enterprise and courageous
spirit.
“It was terrible, my brother. We barely escaped with our lives. We were
all scared. In Pretoria, some of those South African militants were
going from house to house, looking for Nigerians to kill.
“The apartheid in South Africa is still there. This time around, it was
not a case of whites against blacks but inhumanity from black South
Africans to fellow blacks who are foreigners. The people have a poor
sense of history. They forgot the role Nigeria, as part of the Frontline
States, played in their independence. They are evil. They are just
callous.”
He went on: “Even if you are married to their women, they will not
spare any foreigner, especially Nigerians. I do not know what we have
done to them to warrant this level of hatred. “But I do not blame them.
It is time for our government to rise up and defend the interest of
Nigerians. They must be forced to pay compensation for the wanton
destruction of our property. Our people should also target their
business interests and halt them here in Nigeria.”
Another returnee, Olu Bamidele, who hails from Ikorodu in Lagos State,
said he had been in South Africa for many years, but had to return home
following federal government’s gesture to evacuate Nigerians and save
their lives.
Another returnee, a mother of two of South East extraction who declined
to give her name, said she would not forget in a hurry how the premises
that hosted her business were set ablaze by rampaging South African
youths.
She said: “My brother, these are my two children (pointing to them).
I am happy that I am alive and back with them to Nigeria. I was
running a beauty shop in Pretoria, but some South Africans came and set
the premises where I carried out my business ablaze. I lost everything.
“How am I going to carry on with my life? I had to join the aircraft provided by Air Peace to return.
“Even the car I was driving, in the wake of the xenophobic attacks, I
asked an agent to help me sell it just to get some money to resettle
myself, but the place where the car was put up for sale was vandalized
and the car burnt. But what can I do but resign to fate? When there is
life, there is hope.
“I even have a valid work permit and visa to stay in the country, but
that is now history. We have returned. We are looking up to the Nigerian
government to see what they will do to assist us.”
Returnee points accusing finger at South African govt
Yet another returnee, an indigene of Anambra State who gave his name as
Uche Nwabu, said he had to hide for many days in Pretoria when Zulu
militants launched attacks on Nigerians and other foreigners.
He accused the South African police and security agencies of conniving with the irate militants to unleash terror on Nigerians.
He said: “On one of the days, I was returning from work where I
served as a tiller. We heard that South African militants were attacking
Nigerians. We alerted the South African police that their people were
carrying out violent attacks on Nigerians. They ignored us and looked
the other way. We had to run for dear lives.
“As I speak to you, a lot of Nigerians are afraid to leave their homes
in Pretoria for Johannesburg for fear of attack. Many of our people have
been killed and are unaccounted for. But this madness must stop. Our
government must stand up to take serious action.
“My brother, if the situation in Nigeria were better, most of us would
not have gone to South Africa to risk our lives. If government could
provide uninterrupted power supply, create a friendlier business
environment, most of us will prefer to stay here and salvage our
country.”
He, however, wondered why government had not severed diplomatic ties
with South Africa, considering the “evil” their people have done to
Nigerians.
He said: “Government should go ahead and cut the flight frequencies
of South African Airways and other businesses in Nigeria. That way,
their government would call their people to order. ”
Why some Nigerians would not return
Narrating his unsavoury experience, another returnee who identified
himself as Roland Chibuzo from Abia State, said some Nigerians were
reluctant to return home in spite of the gesture from government because
of the investments they have in South Africa.
He said: “I can tell you for free that many of our people are
reluctant to come back to Nigeria because they have invested heavily in
South Africa. Some or people have houses, hotels and other investments,
and they will not like to leave such behind. If they return home, what
will they be doing here? Where would they start from? It is a serious
dilemma.”
Speaking about their ordeal, one of the returnees, who hails from Osun
State and identified himself simply as Saheed, lamented how he was
sacked from job by South Africans as well as other inhuman treatments
meted out on him.
Another returnee, Victor Uwas, an indigene of Delta State, said: “My
brother, the situation was terrible. We were all scared because they
were going from home to home looking for Nigerians to kill and maim.
“Apartheid is still continuing in South Africa with their wicked policy
of segregation. This time, it is not about segregation between the white
and the black but segregation between South Africans and the nationals
of other African countries. It is about the oppression of other
Africans.
“The reason they are attacking Nigerians is that South African youths
are lazy. They blame Nigerians for their economic problems, which is
very wrong. That why the Nigerian government must cut diplomatic ties
with South Africa.
“The whole world is keeping quiet because the evil of xenophobia is
black people against black people. If it was against while people,
America and Europe would have said something to condemn the evil act.”
He, however, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to say something to send a
strong signal to his South African counterpart that the Nigerian
government would take every step to protect her people.”
Another returnee from Abia State identified as Onuoha Chizoba said although it was painful, he was happy to return home.
He said: “I would like to advise Nigerians still staying back in
South Africa to return home, because from the plans we learnt that those
South African have, they will carry out more attacks on foreigners,
including Nigerians.”
On his part, an Osun indigene who gave him name as Aliu Saheed said
many Nigerians were refusing to come home because of their investment in
South Africa.
He said: “Many people do not want to return home because of the cars
and other property and families they have in South Africa. How do you
expect such people to come to Nigeria like that without any
compensation?
“We who decided to return home have lost everything; that is why we are
here. I worked in the protocol department of a South African company for
six months. I have been in the country since 2015. In the company where
I worked at the airport, they refused to pay my salary.
“I was attending one of their schools, but I was pushed out because I am a foreigner.”
A female returnee, who gave her name as Temide Olakojo, from Oyo State, said: “I
registered my company in South Africa. I was selling beauty products
with valid papers. I decided to return home because of the massive
killings and looting of property of Nigerians by South Africans.”
Another female returnee said she was lucky to have escaped because the
car she rode in was stopped and she was asked by the South Africans to
introduce herself. She spoke their language,
And they spared her life. She said after the narrow escape, she resolved that it was time to return home.
She said: “I have lived in South Africa since 2012. I had a permit,
but based on the bad experience, the search for greener pastures has
turned sour.”
Why we volunteered to evacuate Nigerians from South Africa —Air Peace boss
Speaking on the gesture by Air Peace to evacuate stranded Nigerians in
the xenophobic attacks, the Chairman of the airline, Allen Onyema, said:
“We carried out the evacuation free of charge. It is for our
people. We decided to do it because we want to show that it is not all
about money; that nobody can go into his grave with his bank account or a
fat purse, but that you can go to the grave with the legacies you leave
behind.
“So we decided to carry out this evacuation after seeing the gory
pictures on the internet. Like I have always done before in this
country, it was a duty to lift the lives of my people in trouble.
“It is not the first time. It was a patriotic act to send signals to some foreign countries who want to try Nigeria.
“Yes, as Nigerians, we have our differences. But we are one and the
dehumanization should stop to restore the dignity of this country.
“We moved in to restore the pride and resolve of Nigerians to live
together, to do this for the harmony of Nigerians to support the
government.
“This is to give the returnees a sense of belonging. As we moved into
the aircraft, they started singing the national anthem. They felt proud
to be Nigerians.
“As they sang the national anthem, it brought drew tears to my cheeks. The motivation is there, and we thank God.
“Air Peace is ready is do as many trips as there is a single Nigerian
left in South Africa to be evacuated. We were to move over 320
Nigerians, but the authorities in South Africa frustrated us. We are
ready to go back and bring our people.”