The president Bola Tinubu-led government plans to ask South Africa for compensation for businesses and properties left behind by Nigerians who were sent back home because of growing anti-immigration tensions.
Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, shared this information in an interview on Channels Television.
Ajayi said the government has started recording the businesses and properties left behind by returnees as part of its efforts to seek compensation.
This situation is happening as there have been new attacks on African immigrants in South Africa, along with more claims that foreigners are taking jobs that should go to South Africans.
Rights groups in South Africa have also set a deadline of June 30 for undocumented migrants to leave the country.
Ajayi said that talks have already started with South African authorities about this issue.
“In terms of the businesses, just three days ago, myself and the South African Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs were together, and we were discussing this,” he said.
“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.
“I have asked them before they left yesterday to document very accurately those things they were leaving behind in terms of businesses, cars, movable and immovable properties.”
According to him, the information would form the basis of discussions with the South African government.
“We can now take it up with the South African government. That is the next step we are going to take.
“This repatriation will not end with just taking people to Nigeria. We are going to systematically follow up on the information given to us,” he added.
Ajayi urged returnees to provide accurate details of their abandoned assets.
“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,” he said.
Ajayi explained that the people returning to Nigeria chose to leave South Africa on their own before the anti-immigration protests began.
He also mentioned that many Nigerians living in South Africa do not have official documents.
On Tuesday, another group of Nigerians evacuated from Johannesburg landed at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
This latest evacuation comes after 258 Nigerians arrived on June 11 and 66 more returned on June 24, all as part of the Federal Government’s voluntary repatriation program.