Delta State Government on Wednesday condemned in strong terms the spate of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals in South Africa.
Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu who condemned the spate of attacks while speaking to newsmen in Asaba, however cautioned against retaliatory attacks as it would worsen the economy of the nation and increase the level of unemployment which has risen to an all time high.
He called on Deltans to maintain existing peace and shun every form of retaliation as it would affect Deltans and Nigerians who own and work in the business outfits being targeted for reprisal attacks.
“What is happening in South Africa is very barbaric more so when you consider the amount of help Nigeria has rendered to the people of South Africa in the course of the apartheid era.
“But we appeal to our brothers in Nigeria not to emulate this barbarism because the investors in Shoprite as a franchise in Nigeria are Nigerians, the people who work in these offices and business outfits are Nigerians so if you decide to visit the same anger on these investments in Nigeria it becomes double jeopardy.
“It means that Nigerians are suffering in South Africa and you want to also redouble that same suffering in Nigeria because if you decide to bring that same level of barbarism and you begin to think that these are South African investments, they are not actually South African investments, these are investments of Nigerians who live in Nigeria who have been able to provide employment for Nigerians.
“So we plead with our brothers and sisters not to tow the same path as those hooligans in South Africa.
“There are also a good number of South Africans that are good, so the few that are trying to give South Africans bad name should not be emulated by Nigerians who may think they can afford to retaliate by visiting the same level of anger on our brothers and sisters who have struggled over the years to able to set up their own personal businesses.
“I am happy that at the moment in Delta, that kind of thing is not happening, but we plead with our brothers and sisters not to tow that path because all the businesses you are seeing inspite of the name belongs to Deltans and fellow Nigerians and those who work in these establishments are indeed Deltans who have over the years sought for one job or the other and now they have employment.
“When you destroy it, you throw them into the unemployment market, you worsen the economy of the state, you are devaluing our standard of living because by so doing it will affect the economy of the nation so we plead with our people not to tow that path because it is the height of barbarism.” he said.
