Barely two days after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) gave Shoprite, MTN Nigeria, MultiChoice and other South African companies in Nigeria an ultimatum to stop operations in the country, a Shoprite outlet has been shut down.
The shopping mall, which is situated at Ota, Ogun State was said to have been sealed by the students’ body to protest the unrestrained xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
Nairametrics had previously reported that a meeting was held between President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa and NANS where the latter gave the south african companies an ultimatum to leave Nigeria pending the time the South African government ends the killing of Nigerians in South Africa. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, however, asked for patience from NANS as the President of the two countries are planning to meet on the issue.
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The shutdown: The shopping mall was shut down on Saturday with the students carrying placards with inscriptions, as shoppers impatiently ran out in a bid to avoid the commotion. The placards held inscriptions like “South Africans must go,” “Enough of the killing of our brothers, sisters and relatives in South Africa,” “You can’t continue to kill our people and still feed fat on us.’’
The National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Mr Azeez Adeyemi stated that the association was willing to go beyond the street protests as their plan was to destabilize the South African businesses in Nigeria.
“It seems the government of South Africa derives pleasure from the senseless killings and sees the continuous xenophobic attacks on Nigerians resident in South Africa as a norm.
“NANS’ struggle against xenophobia has moved beyond ordinary street protests. Our target now is to mobilise Nigerian students and Nigerians towards truncating the smooth running of South African businesses in Nigeria.”
Adeyemi also made it known that come August 14, there would be a total shutdown of Shoprite, MTN, Multichoice and the other south africa businesses.
Prior to this, the students had closed down MTN offices in Abeokuta and disallowed the staff from working some days ago as a way of voicing their anger over the relentless killing of Nigerians in South African cities.
Government’s Interference: Although South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa and President Muhammadu Buhari are to meet in October to solve issues and strengthen relations between the countries, NANS does not seem to be backing down in issuing out its threat to shut all South African-owned businesses in Nigeria.
Over the years, about 128 Nigerians who reside in South Africa have been murdered by policemen.
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