Xenophobia: We went through hell in S’Africa –Returnees

       *Obiora: I came back with nothing

• Michael: I was robbed because of phone
• Returnee: South Africans burnt my shop, beat me up

 Emotions ran riot as 187 Nigerians returned from South Africa to Nigeria at the Hajj Camp section of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at 10.38p.m. on Wednesday.

Some of the returnees told Woleshadare that they went through hell in the hands of South Africans.

Both the returnees and those waiting to receive them wept freely as the victims of xenophobic attacks in the former apartheid enclave recounted their horrific experiences.

The wait for the evacuation of the returnees was long, but at the end, it was worth all the trouble.

Nigerians patiently waited for the arrival of the 187 Nigerians, who arrived aboard Air Peace B777 aircraft, christened Anuli Peggy Onyema, landing at the Hajj Camp section of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at 10.38p.m. on Wednesday.

Nigeria began repatriating more than 600 of its citizens from South Africa following a wave of deadly xenophobic attacks that frayed diplomatic relations with neighbouring nations.

Air Peace volunteered to fly people for free back to the commercial city of Lagos. The returnees, who expressed mixed emotions on their return, burst into tears as they alighted from the aircraft that flew them into Lagos.

They expressed their bitter experiences in the hands of South Africans.

One of them, who gave his name as Mr. Bethel Midos, a mechanic for German cars, in an interview with our correspondent, recounted how his shop was destroyed and almost lost his life while trying to escape.

Another returnee, Goodluck Obiora, said: “Those guys in South Africa have no conscience. The only thing I need now is help.”

Obiora sold telephone accessories, stressing that last week, over 10 arsonists attacked his shop and razed it down. He disclosed that it was God that saved him from death as the attackers clubbed him until he lost consciousness.

Obiora added that they took him for dead, which enabled him to run for his life after regaining consciousness.

“I left Nigeria for South Africa in 2014. This nonsense started two or three months ago. I need help. I don’t have a mother, I don’t have a father. I am looking for anybody who can help me,” he said amid tears.

“On Monday morning, they beat me up. They collected my passport, my phone, my wallet, everything I had with me. I did not come back with anything, just my little bag that had four clothes inside. That is the only thing inside this place. What I experienced there was very terrible.

“They will never allow you to pass freely on the road. They are so wicked to Nigerians. If they find just a cheap phone in your hand, they will try to stab you in a way that you can hardly survive it just because of a phone,” he added.

Obiora described their attackers as beasts without conscience.

He added: “They keep asking for papers, but when you go to their embassy, they will frustrate you. When you walk on the road, they will go all out to arrest you for your resident permit.

“If you don’t present the papers, they will arrest you. When you apply for the papers, they will not give it to you and refuse to refund you. I was trading in Johannesburg. I had a shop there. They burnt my shop. I never knew I would be coming to Nigeria today. It was my brother who came to the hospital to pick me. I ran to the hospital for treatment after my nose was broken. I was vomiting blood.

“A few months ago, as I was going to my shop, taxi drivers grabbed me and beat me mercilessly. They have sticks with big heads they use to hack people down. I asked them the offence I committed. They are very greedy people. How can people do such thing?”

Asked if Nigerians were the only ones selected for attacks, Obiora said: “Nigerians and other nationals from African countries are the targets of these criminals. One of my sisters, who had her shop very close to mine, Echi, sells stock fish in bags; her shop was completely razed. The lady watched in utter disbelief as her shop was completely burnt. She lay there, crying.”

On what the South African government is doing to put an end to xenophobia, he carpeted South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, describing him as “wicked,” stressing that the rainbow nation turned for the worse since he assumed office.

The returnee said there were thousands of Nigerians in South African prisons with no hope of getting their freedom now or in the near future.

 

He said: “They will never be released unless the Federal Government intervenes. They undergo excruciating pains in jail. My first plan has been achieved; arriving my country safely. The other plan is to sit and think of what to do in Nigeria to sustain myself. I will never go to that country again. Never.”

The gory tale of Obiora in the hands of South Africans was not different from that of Uchendu Michael, who described South Africans as racists, saying the hoodlums go unchallenged by the police, who look the other way when they attack other people from Nigeria, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania.

He said: “If you fight them, they will lock you up even when the attackers are caught with guns. The police will ask you why you decide to fight your attackers when it is obvious that you are the one attacked.

“Let us take this scenario for instance. After catching an armed robber, you are hoping that the armed robber will spend some times in jail, but you will be surprised that after two weeks, the armed robber will come out more emboldened and tell you that he was enjoying his life in jail watching DSTV. Sometimes, they commit crime to go to jail and rest.

“They are not like the Nigerian police who immediately get you arrested when they see you with gun. They will shoot you because you are a criminal if you are not licensed to carry a gun. Over there in South Africa, guns are like toys to those people. If they can rob me because of Nokia phone, that means they can kill. They are mean. They can kill just for R10.”

Asked if he would go back if the problem subsides, Michael said: “I am not planning to go back to South Africa or any other country again. I don’t want to pass through that route again because I don’t want to pass through that stress of seeking asylum procedure. One thing is that when they give you asylum, they will cancel it.”

Another returnee, who pleaded anonymity, added a bit of drama to the situation, saying hard drinks frequently taken by South African men has seriously affected their libido; a situation he reiterated makes South African ladies to prefer Nigerian men to their men.

He said: “When they find out that their women go for Nigerian men, they become very envious and they will set you up. Before you know it, you are deported. I don’t see this problem coming to an end.

“The Zulu King said they must claim their land. I don’t know who is fighting with them over land matters. Most of the houses in South Africa are owned by banks, FMB, Capitec, Standard Chartered and NedBank. To own a house, you will pay till you go to your grave.”

The man pleaded with government to empower the returnees and faulted people who declined to come back, saying whatever happened to them should not be put on the door step of anybody.

One of the returnees, who gave his name as Salami, said so many Nigerians had been killed in South Africa, noting that the extra judicial killing by South African police was alarming.

“They throw corpses around without care. They will stop Nigerians on the road; take their money without any offence committed. Why are Africans wicked to fellow Africans? Why are they doing these things?” Salami asked.

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