The South Africa High Commission to Nigeria on Wednesday shut down its offices and consulate in Lagos for fear of attack by youths in the country.
The acting High Commissioner, Amb. Bobby Moroe, who announced this said that he had directed the Mission to suspend all consular activities until the situation improved.
He explained that the reported attacks on South Africans in parts of the country informed the decision to close down the Mission.
Moroe stated, “I directed that the Mission should be closed until the situation improves. We heard that South Africans were being pulled out of vehicles and attacked. We feel unsafe and that is why I directed that the mission should close down until further notice.”
When told that the police had beefed up security to prevent retaliatory attacks, the envoy said the Mission would remain closed because he did not want to take chances.
In a related development, Botswana on Thursday issued a travel advisory warning to its citizens following xenophobia attacks in neighbouring South Africa.
Botswana Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation advised all its citizens traveling to South Africa to exercise extreme caution because of the violent unrests in multiple locations in the country.
South Africa erupted into a frenzy of violence recently which was allegedly triggered by xenophobia as some South Africans claimed foreign nationals now had control over the country’s economy.
AFP/CHANNELS