FG urged to demand justice as another Nigerian dies in South Africa

As yet another Nigerian life was cut short last Saturday in South Africa, the Federal Government has been urged to demand justice following the killings of Nigerians living abroad.

While Nigerians are yet to recover from the curious death of Obianuju Ndubuisi-Chukwu, a Nigerian insurance boss who was murdered in South Africa, the country is again battling with the ruthless assassination of a 17 year old in that country.

The latest killing brings to about 200, Nigerians killed in xenophobic attacks between 2016 and this year.

South Africa is home to about 800,000 Nigerians, mostly young people, according to unofficial records.

Ndubisi-Chukwu was the Deputy Director-General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN). She was killed on June 13 in her hotel room.

The teenager, Chinonso Obiaju, 17, a Nigerian still in high school was shot dead in Johannesburg on Saturday July 20.

The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Adetola Olubajo, who confirmed the killing to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the deceased student lived in Roodepoort, Johannesburg with his guardian.

Mr Olubajo told NAN on the telephone that his guardian, Mike Nsofor, disclosed that he was shot at about 6.30 p.m.

“He went to buy from a shop with his friend and someone chased and opened fire on them, killing him,’’ he quoted the guardian as saying.

He added that the family would be burying him in South Africa, noting that the union’s leaders in Johannesburg would be contacting him on developments.

Mr Olubajo said they were going to the Police on Monday to finalise on the registry and provision of his papers.

“He was born here I learnt and the mother is in the U.S.

“I have spoken to Mike Nsofor to pass the Nigerian community’s condolences and call for justice to be served in this case as anybody who hunts down a young schoolboy couldn’t have any justifiable reasons,’’ Mr Olubajo said.

He implored the federal government to urgently protect Nigerians in the Diaspora.

Meanwhile, the Association of Foreign Relations Professionals of Nigeria (AFRPN) have expressed dismay over the wanton wasting of Nigerian lives by unscupulus citizens of their host countries.

President of AFRPN, Amb. Gani Lawal said Federal Government must demand justice for the killing of its citizens living abroad in line with the country’s foreign policy.

 Lawal, gave the advice during a recent pre-event briefing in Abuja on the Second Annual Lecture of the association scheduled to hold on July 31 in Abuja.

He said that one of the objectives of Nigeria’s foreign policy was for the government to ensure the protection of Nigerians living in other countries and to demand for justice in the case of death or harm.

According to Lawal, the Foreign Policy of any nation should be in line with maintaining international peace and security.

“If you look at the foreign policy objectives of Nigeria, one of it is to protect the lives of Nigerians all over the world.

“Our foreign policy is woven around the protection of Nigerians, but where there are individual cases, we would have to look at individual cases and find out what is responsible for it and deal with it squarely.

“Such instances as the killing of Nigerians in South Africa and other countries as a result of some area boys going around because of jealousy of Nigerians doing well.

“In terms of government response, it is to ensure that culprits are brought to book and dealt with decisively in order to serve as deterrence to would be attackers.

“That is what Foreign Policy can do – to demand from the governments of those countries where Nigerians are being killed and ask for restitution for the families of those killed.

“There have been occasions where we did that through our foreign policy, asking that those people, who are involved must be dealt with and there must be a way of pacifying the families concerned,” Lawal said.

Lawal said that frank discussions on Nigeria’s Foreign Policy making would feature in the course of the workshop to come up with the way forward going by the caliber of the guest lecturer and participants.

He said that in its first year of operation, the AFRPN launched its first peer review journal and this year, the workshop would also be brainstorming on Foreign Policy which is a direct outgrowth of domestic policy.

He added that the objectives of the association was to impact in a professional way  the foreign policy formulation and implementation of Nigeria to further enhance and make Nigeria a respected voice in the international arena.

Also speaking, Amb. Ridhwan Mustapha, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Pakistan, said it was the duty of the Federal Government to guarantee the protection of every Nigerian wherever they might be.

Mustapha also said that wherever any incident happened involving any Nigerian, it behooved on the government and Nigerians in that country to handle the matter.

He added that the government had always cared for the safety of the lives of Nigerians wherever they might be.

“Nobody is happy about what is happening in the South Africa we’re talking about; nobody is happy.

“Nigerians are not happy; the government is not happy because it is unfair.

“Nigeria has done a lot for South Africa,” Mustapha said.

According to him, it is the responsibility of every government to protect its citizens.

He said that the forthcoming workshop would create a platform to further reflect on Nigeria’s Foreign Policies, “what has been, what it is, and what is likely to be”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2019 workshop with the theme `Theory and Reality in Nigeria’s Foreign Policy Making: Some further reflections’, will be Chaired by Amb. Babagana Kingibe with former ministers of foreign affairs in attendance.

NAN