Over 5000 people have reportedly lost their jobs in Lagos to the reprisal attack caused by the xenophobic attack in South Africa. Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu made this known during his visit to the shopping malls attacked in Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu said Nigerians were the most affected because the businesses attacked in Lagos were employers of Nigerians. He advised that such action shouldn’t repeat itself, because while the Xenophobic attack occurred in South Africa, the jobs that were affected in the process were Nigerian-connected and not otherwise.
The tension between Nigerians and South Africans had heightened when a Nigerian was reportedly killed by some South African Police officers in his home and when businesses, as well as other properties belonging to Nigerians in South Africa, were burnt.
Nairametrics reported the protest organised against Xenophobic attack on Nigerians in South Africa. The protest turned violent in some areas in Nigeria, and Shoprite was a subject of reprisal attack in Ajah and Surulere. The Shopping malls were looted in the process, leading to the closure of Shoprite, Pep and MTN Nigeria offices and stores across Nigeria.
[READ MORE: Xenophobia: Nigerian Police arraign 83 for attack on South African owned businesses]
What Sanwo-Olu said: Sanwo-Olu said thousands of jobs were affected in the reprisal attack that happened some days ago, and according to him, “In both malls, over 5,000 people are out of jobs. These are jobs where Nigerians are the ones that have been affected.
“So, we need to be able to take the lessons out of this, be stronger together and be able to take corrective measures to ensure that things like these should certainly not repeat itself in our community.”
He added that, “We have seen the amount of enormous destruction in both plazas and the first thing is to condemn in strong terms whatever could have led to this. It is an extensive destruction of people’s property.
“As a government, we have come out to condemn this and to assure the business community that ease of doing business is paramount to us and security of lives and property is part of the to-do list for us.
“We are charging our security operatives to stop at nothing, to ensure that they keep all of these facilities safe and secure,” Governor Sanwo-Olu said in a statement.
Synergy between the community and companies need to be strengthened according to the Governor, in order to ensure the residents of the communities – where these businesses are based – see these companies as theirs enough to protect it from attacks.
To get on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by the unfortunate incident of reprisal attacks in Lagos during the week, I visited the malls today. I condemn wanton destruction of private businesses under any guise. This is not who we are as a people. Lagos is home to all. pic.twitter.com/DawmuSOw4c
— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) September 7, 2019
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Meanwhile, on Twitter, Governor Sanwo-Olu tweeted that, “To get on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by the unfortunate incident of reprisal attacks in Lagos during the week, I visited the malls today. I condemn wanton destruction of private businesses under any guise. This is not who we are as a people. Lagos is home to all.
“Government will continue to encourage investment. I want to assure us all that this will not happen again. Arrested culprits will be prosecuted as an effective deterrent.”
