Rep Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, has criticised the deportation of 125 Nigerians on Friday by the South African Government, describing it as illegal.
The 125 Nigerians were deported for allegedly being in possession of fake Yellow Fever Vaccination cards.
The travellers, who arrived in South Africa on Thursday, were deported in two flights, 75 of them on board South African Airways and 50 in Arik air.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, Dabiri-Erewa said the act was part of the “continuous unwarranted hostilities'' against Nigerians by the South Africa government”.
The lawmaker described the attitude of the South African Government immigration officials as “degrading” and condemned the continuous hostility toward Nigerians by South Africans as unacceptable.
“It is pathetic that 125 Nigerians, the highest so far, which include women and children, were delayed for 24 hours without water and food in an inhuman condition before bing bundled back to Nigeria.”
“Do Nigerian officials ask South Africans to fill Yellow form when coming to Nigeria? Why treating Nigerians with scorn and indignation. This is really appalling.”
She recalled the various roles Nigerians, including women and children, played in dismantling apartheid in South Africa.
“Is this the way to pay Nigeria back for their kind gesture? This is unfair and unAfrican.”
The chairman urged the Federal Government to apply the rule of reciprocity to South Africans coming to Nigeria.
Dabiri-Erewa also recalled how South African businesses such as MTN and Muti-Choice, owner of DSTV, among others, were thriving in Nigeria better than in any part of Africa without any form of molestation from the Nigerian government.
“I call on the Federal government to protect its citizens by applying the law of reciprocity to South Africans coming to Nigeria by introducing the same stringent treatment meted to Nigerians going to South Africa.”
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