The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyema,
said on Monday that Nigeria and South Africa have agreed to set up an early
warning unit to check future xenophobic attacks.
Onyema, who is leading
a Federal Government delegation to that country, disclosed this to the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone from Pretoria, South Africa.
The minister said the
early warning unit would comprise representatives of the South African Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, police, and immigration, representatives
of Nigerian High Commission, consulate and Nigeria Union.
“They will meet every
three months and that will be a framework within which the Nigeria Union in
South Africa will be able to engage on a permanent basis with the main high
level government officials of this country.
“ We believe that it
will enable them in sharing intelligence, information and being proactive to
prevent this kind of thing ever happening again, he said.
Onyema said the
delegation had positive discussions with the South African Foreign
Affairs Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry on how to protect
Nigerians and their property.
He said the meeting
agreed to set up the early warning unit to dialogue quarterly to prevent such
incident.
The President of
Nigeria Union, Mr Ikechukwu Anyene, said Nigerians in South Africa appreciated
the delegation’s visit.
“The spirit of our
people here has been lifted. The mood has changed and our people are happy,” he
said.
Anyene said the early
warning unit set up by the two governments was a positive development because
the union would be in a position to interact with top government officials
regularly.
“ On our part, we will
advance social cohesion between Nigerians and South Africans,” he said.
NAN reports that the
delegation visited business premises and homes of Nigerians attacked during the
xenophobic incidents in February.
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