The Federal Government says it will engage the South African authorities to seek compensation for Nigerians who abandoned businesses and other properties while returning home under the ongoing voluntary evacuation programme.
Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, disclosed this on Tuesday, June 30, during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
Ajayi explained that the government had begun compiling details of assets left behind by Nigerians who chose to leave South Africa following rising anti-immigration tensions.
He said returnees had been instructed to accurately document their businesses, vehicles and other properties before departing.
“In terms of the businesses, just three days ago, myself and the South African Deputy Minister of Finance were together and we were discussing this.
“I took up the discussion with her and we have agreed that we are going to ask our people who are returning to begin to document what they are leaving behind, and that was the message yesterday before this set that is due to land in Lagos.
“I have asked them before they left yesterday to document very accurately those things they were leaving behind in terms of businesses, in terms of even cars, movable and immovable properties. We can now take it up with the South African government. That is the next step we are going to take.
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“So, this repatriation will not end with just taking people to Nigeria. We are going to systematically follow up on the information given to us, and I told them to be very accurate with what they are going to give because we are going to work with the South African government to get to the exact locations of all these businesses, shops and properties and present them to the South African government for possible compensation because we will not allow the labour people have suffered to build over the years to just go down the drain or be taken over by people,” Ajayi said.
The envoy also rejected claims that most Nigerians living in South Africa are undocumented, arguing that many entered the country legally but became affected by delays in the renewal of immigration documents.
“In the last three or four years there have been a deluge of applications at the South African Home Office which were not attended to due to systemic issues.
“So, because of this many, not only Nigerian nationals, were caught in this web of delay, so you cannot rightly claim that these were undocumented because most of them came to the country legally in terms of how somebody should migrate.
“So, it is on the basis of now wanting to renew their papers and get them when one expires that they were caught up in the unnecessary delays.
“So, when people try to say they were undocumented, I quite disagree with that because some of them, based on experience, have had their papers lag behind at the Home Office for years,” he said.
Ajayi noted that another batch of Nigerians was expected to arrive in Lagos under the evacuation programme, describing the exercise as part of efforts to assist citizens who voluntarily decided to return home.
The evacuation follows renewed anti-immigration protests in South Africa, where some groups have demanded the departure of undocumented foreign nationals, prompting concerns among Nigerians living in the country.