Seize S’African companies profits to pay xenophobia victims, Oshiomhole urges FG

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Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on the Federal Government to appropriate profits made by South African companies operating in Nigeria.

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He said the funds should be used to compensate Nigerians whose businesses and properties were destroyed during recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

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The lawmaker made the call on during a plenary session Tuesday in reaction to comments by South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who had ruled out government compensation for affected Nigerians.

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Ntshavheni had argued that only legally registered properties qualified for compensation, adding that informal settlements did not meet this requirement.

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She also referenced alleged drug-related activities among Nigerians in South Africa while defending her government’s position.

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Oshiomhole, however, rejected the minister’s position, describing the destruction of Nigerian-owned businesses as unjustifiable regardless of registration status.

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“Following comments by the South African minister to the effect that compensation will not be paid to those Nigerians whose properties were looted, shops bombed and lives even lost, the government of Nigeria should reciprocate by appropriating the profit accrued from South African companies, including their banks, IBTC and use the money to pay Nigerians,” he said.

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The senator noted that the deadline given to Nigerians to leave South Africa had been fixed by a mob, yet the South African government had gone along with it.

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“We cannot allow a situation where our people take taxpayers’ money to pay compensation while South African investment and profit is being taken away untouched.

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“I urge that the profit be appropriated and used to settle those who have been brutally attacked, whose businesses have been bombed and whose lives have been lost.

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“This does not require any further investigation because the facts are self-evident,” he said.

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South African firms, including MTN and several banks, have significant commercial interests in Nigeria, making the country one of their largest markets on the continent.

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