.Advocates compensation for victims, families
By Valentine Amanze
The immediate past deputy governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere, has bemoaned the unmitigated attacks on Nigerians and their businesses in South Africa, while commending President Muhammadu Buhari for wading in to resolve the ill treatments.
The ex-deputy governor through his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Onwuchekwa, stated that Nigeria did not deserve the inhuman treatments from the South Africans.
Madumere pointed out that Nigeria played very strategic roles during Apartheid regime to ensure that South Africans got justice and freedom.
His words: “Nigeria played the big brother role during the reign of Apartheid in South Africa. The country sacrificed all it could to ensure that freedom was achieved. The sustained violent treatment against Nigerians is uncalled for. I believe that the authorities in South Africa have not done what they should do to achieve a peaceful coexistence.”
He praised President Buhari for taken the right step by trying to use diplomacy to resolve the nagging issue.
“Pulling out from World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF), summoning of South African High Commissioner to Nigeria and recalling Ambassador Kabiru Bala among others were steps in the right direction. No African country deserves such treatments considering our historical antecedents,” he said.
He however called for the intervention of the African Union since citizens of other member-states were affected by the mindless killings and destruction of lives and businesses.
He also called for compensation to those who lost their property and lives of loved ones.
He said, “This is the only way to ameliorate the sense of losses being experienced by victims of xenophobic violent activities of South African citizens.” Madumere said that such would also serve as a deterrent to other A.U member states, saying, “It is indefensible why such repulsive stories should always be coming from South Africa.”
