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Abuja – Nigerians in Abuja reportedly staged an
anti-xenophobia protest outside the South African embassy in the capital
Abuja on Wednesday, calling on authorities to "stop attacks on African nationals".
According to BBC Live, the protest, organised by members of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, urged the South African government to urgently address the situation.
The protesters carried placards such as "South Africa we say stop killing our people" and chanted slogans denouncing the attacks, the report said.
"We are doing this because of the killings taking place in South Africa, we want to express our displeasure over that and urge them to take measures to address the situation.
"We presented a petition in which we want them to call their people to order. We have foreigners here and it will not be good if there is reprisal attacks that will not make world a peaceful place to live," one of the protesters was quoted as saying.
Drugs and prostitution
This came as Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba was expected on Thursday to brief the media in Parliament on the recent outbreaks of xenophobic violence in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Violence broke out in Pretoria West over the weekend, with residents vowing to rid the area of drugs and prostitution. They raided homes they claimed were used as drug dens and brothels.
At least two houses were set alight.
Meanwhile, on Monday Nigeria urged the African Union to step in and stop the attacks on its citizens and other Africans in South Africa.
The Nigerian presidency said there was need for the continental body to "intervene urgently", claiming that in the last two years "about 116" Nigerians had been killed, including 20 last year.
"This is unacceptable to the people and government of Nigeria," a senior presidential aide on foreign affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, was quoted as saying.
According to the Nigerian Union in South Africa, there were about 800 000 Nigerians in South Africa, many of them living in Johannesburg.
