S’Africa crisis: FG prepares compensation claims for Nigerian victims

The Nigerian Federal Government is actively preparing to submit compensation claims to South Africa for its nationals who suffered property losses during recent attacks. The Ministry of State for Foreign Affairs has begun issuing forms to Nigerians affected by the violence to formally document their losses.

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In preparation for us lodging our claims, we have designed a form to be filled by all Nigerians who may have lost property in South Africa. We want to be able to proceed based on data, based on the quantum of losses they have suffered, and then we go back, because our engagement with South Africa is ongoing.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye, stated after briefing President Bola Tinubu that these forms are crucial for tabling concrete claims during ongoing diplomatic negotiations with the South African government. The process aims to proceed based on verified data and the extent of losses incurred.

President Tinubu aligned with the framing of the violence as "Afrophobic" rather than xenophobic. He stressed the importance of African unity in combating this pattern of violence specifically targeting Black Africans, distinguishing it from attacks on other foreign nationals. The President indicated a willingness to leverage his personal relationship with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to help halt the violence.

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The President agreed with me that it is Afrophobic, and that Africa must unite in ensuring that we put an end to this spiral of violence targeted at Africans in South Africa.

Enikanolaiye confirmed that approximately 1,490 Nigerians have been evacuated, with some evacuation batches funded by private Nigerian individuals. The government is exploring alternative funding sources as many Nigerians still wish to return. South Africa's Foreign Minister Roland Lamola visited Abuja as a special envoy, agreeing to activate an early warning mechanism between the two countries to prevent future incidents.

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I told him that is something we would like to leverage on to ensure that we put a stop to this ogre of violence, death and destruction of our nationals in South Africa.