By: Joe-ogba Michael Onyebor
Following xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa, some Nigerians have launched a reprisal attack on South African-owned mall, Shoprite, leaving a protester dead and police van burned.
Angered that the South African government is not doing enough to stop the attack, the protesters, on Tuesday afternoon, stormed the South African owned super market along the Lekki-Epe Expressway calling for a complete shutdown of the business.
The protesters who are largely made up of young Nigerians chanted songs of solidarity as they made their way into the place and eventually disrupted activities. The protesters, despite the presence of heavily-armed security personnel, ensured that they created tension at the place.
An eyewitness who spoke with The Voice claimed the protesters stormed the shopping mall outlet to vandalise it. She, however, added that security operatives have since moved to contain the situation, dispersing the irate youths with tear gas and gunshots.
Another eyewitness, Gboyega Bashorun, said he was returning home fromFacebook to start hiding ‘Like’ counts for posts work when he noticed a raging inferno. “I was coming back from work around 3:30 when I suddenly noticed a burning fire at the Shoprite by Jakande Bus-Stop,” Bashorun, a technical assistant, was quoted to have said. “I saw a raging fire and saw several police vans and other security people at the entrance.”
“The Mobil and SPG gas stations nearby also closed their gates. I later gathered that it was a retaliation for what happened in South Africa,” he added.
However, The Voice gathered that a yet to be identified person had been shot dead in the heat of the protest. A witness who described the victim as a protester said he was killed after an angry mob set a police van on fire during the protest.
Over the years, several Nigerians have been killed and their shops and businesses burnt down by South Africans in a series of Xenophobic attacks. South Africans, since Thursday, August 29, had started another renewed spate of attacks, burning down and looting shops owned by Nigerians.
As at the time of this report, security men were said to have been deployed to secure the Premises of South African-owned firms in the country, as MTN and MultiChoice group call for peace and dialogue.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the xenophobic attacks and has sent special envoy to South Africa to convey his concerns on the situation to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This was contained in a statement on Tuesday, September 3, by special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina. Adesina said President Buhari noted with deep concern series of attacks on Nigerian citizens and property in South Africa since August 29, 2019.
