Students shut down Shoprite to protest killing of Nigerians in S’Africa

Hundreds of Students on Saturday shut down Shoprite in Ota, Ogun State, to protest the killing of Nigerians in South Africa.

It was reported that the students picketed the shopping mall to protest what they described as unrestrained xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

Some Nigerians residing in South Africa have been brought home in body bags in recent years, having been killed in apparent xenophobic attacks in the former apartheid nation.

The Shoprite mall was shut down around 11:10 a.m. in the presence of policemen, with shoppers hurriedly ordered out of the mall.

The students carried placards with inscriptions: “South Africans must go. Enough of the killing of our brothers, sisters and relatives in South Africa. You can’t continue to kill our people and still feed fat on us.’’

READ ALSO: Army dismisses officer for rape of 300-Level student, hands him over to police

Speaking with reporters, the National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Mr Azeez Adeyemi, said that “NANS’ leadership under its President, Mr Danielson Bamidele, have resolved to champion the struggle of putting sense back into lawless South Africans.

“It seems the government of South Africa derives pleasure from the senseless killings and sees the continuous xenophobic attacks on Nigerians residents in South Africa as a norm.

“NANS’ struggle against xenophobia has moved beyond ordinary street protests.

“Our target now is to mobilise Nigerian students and Nigerians towards truncating the smooth running of South African businesses in Nigeria.

“We shall resume here at Shoprite, Stanbic IBTC, MTN and Multichoice on Aug. 14 for a total shutdown.

“This is a struggle that will continue until victory of purpose is achieved,” Adeyemi said.

On Aug. 5, students shut down MTN and Stanbic IBTC Bank offices in Abeokuta to voice their anger against the repeated killing of Nigerians in South African cities.

Up to 800,000 Nigerians, mainly young people, reside in South Africa, according to unofficial estimates.

No fewer than 128 Nigerians have been killed in the country since 2016, many of them murdered by South African policemen.

However, some of the Nigerians were reportedly killed by their fellow Nigerians in gang violence linked to hard drug peddling.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now