The Nigerian community in South Africa said yesterday that another shop belonging to a member was looted in the latest xenophobic attack at Jeppestown, Johannesburg.
The Police said no fewer than 100 people ransacked shops in Johannesburg overnight, in the latest wave of looting incidents in South African cities.
President, Nigeria Union, South Africa, Mr Ikechukwu Anyene told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the telephone from Pretoria that the Nigerian shop was looted on Sunday night.
“We have received information that there was an overnight attack on shops belonging to foreigners at Jeppestown, a business district in Johannesburg.
“A shop belonging to a Nigerian was affected; The goods in the shop were looted by the attackers. The Nigerian was not hurt during the attack.”
But South African Police spokesman Brig. Mathapelo Peters said security agents were following on leads and were expecting to make more arrests.
She said she was unaware of the nationalities of the shopkeepers and police were waiting for owners to come forward, so that they could open cases of violence and damage to property.
Similar incidents have taken place in Pretoria this month, but police have been reluctant to characterize the attacks as being directed against foreigners.
But the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Diaspora Affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa yesterday criticized the South African Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, over his comments on the killing of Nigerians.
Gigaba was quoted in a statement in the aftermath of the xenophobic attacks that “such issues were better discussed at the diplomatic levels”, when more than 100 Nigerian lives have been lost in South Africa.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa said: “It appears that Mr. Gigaba would rather dwell on and entertain himself with diplomatic niceties when the welfare of Nigerians resident in South Africa are at stake now more than any time in recent history.
“His response to the xenophobic attacks, which has now become a recurring decimal on Africans, most especially Nigerians living peacefully in their host country of South Africa was indeed unfortunate.
“While it’s no longer news that law-abiding Nigerians in that country have borne the major brunt of these attacks, the news by the Home Affairs Minister that his country is trying to get rid of criminals in his country at the time when indiscriminate mayhem and looting of law-abiding Nigerians is very suspicious, to say the least.”