NAN – The House of Representatives, on Thursday, it would do everything to ensure that the murderers of a Nigerian, Timothy Chinedu, in South Africa, faced the law.
Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje (Abia-PDP), disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, after a closed door meeting with members of Nigeria Union, South Africa, on Thursday.
The lawmaker said that due to the recent killings of Nigerians in that country, there was urgent need for Nigerian Parliament to meet with their South African counterpart on the issue.
“We spoke concerning the Nigerian boy who was killed and it is something the parliament will continue to put pressure until the killers are brought to book.
“In fact, we have had riots and a lot of extra-judicial killing of Nigerians, culminating in the very tragic murder of the Nigerian a month ago.
“We have seen that there is no institutionalised help coming from the government of South Africa in the same way that Nigeria offers institutional help.
“Aside from the violation of MTN, the Nigerian Government still overlooked some fines which the South African companies ought to have paid,” she said.
According to her, I think it is Nigeria’s commitment to building and growing Africa that informed the good will that Nigeria shows.
Elendu-Ukeje emphasised the fact that it was heart-breaking that Nigerians who live in South Africa constantly complain about institutional discrimination against them.
“We are very glad that the President of South Africa is going to visit Nigeria very soon. I think that underscores the closeness of both governments.
“Unfortunately, as our governments are getting closer, it will seem that the citizens are getting farther apart.
“I think this is the role the parliament can play, where our parliament engages the parliament of South Africa in a constructive way to show to them what Nigeria has done to promote brotherliness among African people.
“This is expected to be reciprocated,” she said.
The lawmaker also said that the Nigerian foreign policy was about taking care of the plight of Nigerians outside the country.
Also speaking to NAN, President of Nigeria Union, South Africa, Mr Ikechukwu Anyene, said that the meeting was a fruitful and that they hoped for more engagement with the committee.
“The President of South Africa is coming soon, which is one of the reasons why we are here so that the situation of affairs of our people will be presented through the platform.
“The Nigerians in South Africa are expecting a lot from us and from our government as they are going about their businesses peacefully, though everything is calm for now.
“I want the Nigerians in South Africa to continue to be law-abiding, to continue to be hard working as the challenges we are having would be sorted out soon, ” he said.
