Xenophobia: South Africa Panics, Closes Lagos Consulate to Avoid Attacks

South African consul general in Nigeria, Sam
Monaisa, said in an email to the South African
business forum in that country that he has
ordered the temporal closure of the Lagos
consulate and that the closure would remain in
force until Thursday.
The situation in Durban had calmed down, but he
was concerned about the Nigerians that were
being repatriated, he wrote.
He said Nigerians were using social media to
blow an already tense situation in South Africa
out of proportion and stoking emotions.
This was why Nigerians maintained that their
compatriots were being killed daily in South
Africa, he said.
South Africans are becoming targets
He warned the forum’s members to stay alert
and not move around unnecessarily. South
African businesses and citizens became targets
of threats and acts of retaliation whenever
xenophobic attacks occurred in South Africa, he
cautioned.