The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has called for South African businesses in Nigeria to be shut down if the latest wave of xenophobic attacks persist.
Kalu described as wicked and mindless the onslaught visited upon Nigerians by South Africans since violence broke out last Sunday in Johannesburg, noting that arresting the attackers is not enough.
He decried the attackers’ justifications for the attrocities that foreigners are taking their jobs, saying if Nigerians are not allowed to peacefully conduct their businesses, the SA businesses in the country including MTN, DSTV, Shoprite deserved to be closed down.
Kalu, a former governor of Abia State in a statement by his media team on Tuesday was quoted as saying, “The gruesome killings, looting, arson of properties belonging to Nigerians and attack of Nigerian Embassy in South Africa is ill-conceived, disheartening and wicked.
“How can any sensible person attack and burn a fellow human being just because he or she has a feeling to do so? Those mindless criminals who attacked and prevented law-abiding Nigerians to freely conduct their businesses must be made to pay for their crimes.
“Arresting them is not enough.”
Continuing, he added, “If the South African government do not do more to protect the lives of Nigerians, there should be no reason to allow them to operate freely in Nigeria. All their enterprises deserve to be closed down including MTN, DSTV, Shoprite among others. In the spirit of brotherhood, we have supported them. Our doors have always been opened but it’s time we retaliate by shutting our doors.”
While commending President Muhammadu Buhari for dispatching a special envoy to the South African government, Kalu urged the federal government to hasten their intervention and institute stiffer measures against South Africa.
He added that the federal government should no longer be patient on invoking the United Nations (UN) law on hate and all forms of xenophobic attacks against South Africa so as to make its government take the issue seriously.
