Lawrence Enyoghasu And Chinelo Obogo
They were Nigerians living peacefully in South Africa with their South African neighbours and even other African nationals until sudden turn of event made them targets of the xenophobic attacks, prompting the Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari to order their immediate evacuation to Nigeria their fatherland. They were treated like criminals, like helpless victims. But having the wings, today they feel, walk and talk like victors. They came back broken in the body and spirit but remain unbowed. They came back with tales of woes but they are happy to be alive.
It was first reported that they would arrive at 2 pm but owing to unforeseen development that made their journey delayed reportedly for about 15 hours as their South African hosts tried to persuade them not to go, they arrived at the NAHCO cargo wing of Murtala Muhammed International, Airport, at exactly 9.34 am, Nigerian time, the following day, September 11 on the wings of Air Peace Boeing 777. They were 178 in number.
Seeing their flight, Allen Onyeama, Chairman of Air Peace, sprung to his feet leaving behind his security details and the Chair person, Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri who spearheaded the evacuation. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, perhaps wishing he could fly. But try as he could, he could not breach protocol as he had to wait for the NAHCO team and the immigration people to conclude their checks and documentations .
“You people should be fast; they are tired and hungry,” he said impatiently to the officers-in-charge. “These people are the real Nigerian heroes who defended the honour of this country. Let us welcome our brothers and sisters.” The first to step out of the flight was an airhostess who boldly displayed a placard carrying the stance of the airline: “We say no to xenophobia,” the inscription read. “Please, come home!” As they alighted, one by one, the returnees paused a while before breaking into Nigerian national anthem. It made a touching sight as they did so with their right hands raised to the dark sky above. Then they shouted: “ The South Africa, I see today, I see no more!”
Onyeama could not hold back tears as he went about welcoming them, parting some gently on the back and engaging others in bear hug. He later addressed the media shortly after their arrival. One of the returnees, 39-year-old Olumide Omotosho from Osun State knelt down and thanked God for bringing them home safely without any mishap. Then, he deeped his hand into his right leg trouser pocket and brought out a pack of Dunhill cigarette and a lighter. He brought out a stick and lit it up and drew from it nervously. As the reporter approached him for an interview, the computer graduate signaled for a momentary privacy. After the last drag, he walked up to the reporter and said: “I am yours.”
A returnee vows not to go back
Even if he were given back all he lost in South Africa, he vowed, he would want to go back there. As far as he is concerned, he is done with the country. His joy is that within the two years that he spent there, he was able to train two appretencies who can continue with his legacy. Asked what prompted his travel to the country in the first place, he said: “I was working in telecommunication in Lagos. I worked with NTS, IPI and Makasa & Son. I went to South Africa to gain more experience. I went because I could not work and improve here so I took what I thought was a better route.”
The country is beautiful but unfortunately it is not accommodating, he observed. “The people are lazy,” he complained. “I traveled to South Africa on February 3, 2017. I went there for a greener pasture but on getting there I found out that the country had blocked their system from expatriates .” He talked about how his effort to get work permit was frustrated. “They keep yelling for critical skill over the two years I stayed in the country,” he said. “I pushed harder to get my permit but all the effort was in vain. The first time I got there, I slept on the street because they would not allow you to have a place until you have been harrassed. There was nothing for foreigners. There is a place in Johannesburg where we professionals gather to encourage ourselves. Peoples’ property were burnt; many people lost their lives.”
But he was lucky to escape from harm, he added, because he kept details of his movement from his South African friends when the attacks began for the fear of being betrayed. “I have South Africans friends but when the xenophobia started I absconded from them because you can’t come in-between a South African and his people’s belief.” An individual South African does not have a personal opinion, he explained. He subscribed to group psychology. He accused the South African government of complicity for their failure to take pro-active measures to protect their lives. “The South African President did not deploy soldiers,” he said. “And when we retaliated by attacking back the police began to arrest us.” He claimed to have recorded the video trending on social media about a man who was killed with bare hands by South Africans. “The young man trending on social media who was blinded and had his head crushed was my friend. I was hiding when I took the shoot, I could not help Aare Yussuf,” he sighed.
Injured Nigerian speaks out
Unlike Olumide, Lawan Bolatito came home with injuries all over his body. The story of the man from Oyo State is the story of a narrow escape from death. According to him, he left the shores of the country to become a teacher after graduating from the College of Education Ikere, Ekiti. But his dream of greener pasture almost turned into a nightmare when he escaped death in the January attack. Up till today, he still nurses the wounds.
“The injury on my hand and the disfiguring of my leg was as a result of the January attack,” he affirmed. “I have spent six years in South Africa. I went there to better my life. I was a graduate of College of Education Ikere, Ekiti. When I got to there I tried to get a teaching job but they didn’t employ me. I therefore decided to employ myself by repairing laptops and phones. I didn’t learn it in Nigeria. I got some online tutorial. For a foreigner to own a house or apartment in South Africa is hard. If you owe a South African for one day, he would call the police and his brothers to quit you. I got injured while I was trying to escape being mobbed. If I had enough cash I could have established myself because back there in South Africa I have people I have trained on the job. One of them is a South African while two others are Malawians. My shop was not burnt but looted,” he stated.
Other returnees’ ordeals
Julian Anthony from Edo State is into media production and have been there for 7 years. Asked about his experience during the xenophobic attacks, he said: “It was terrible, my brother. We barely escaped with our lives. We were all scared. They were going from house to house and looking for Nigerians to attack, maim or kill. My brother, from what I saw, the apartheid in South Africa is still there.”
Like Anthony, another returnee, Onuoha Chizoba from Abia State, has also been there for seven years. A pastor, he said he was scared when the attacks spread like wild fire and got to his area of residence. “We felt uncomfortable and decided that the best thing to do is to return home. Some Nigerians are still there for reasons best known to them. They are killing my people. Yesterday, another Nigeria died. It is a lie when South African authorities say on social media that no Nigerian was killed. It is a lie. They are killing Nigerians; they keep their bodies in the mortuary while some died in the bush. They lock up shops and houses and burn the cars inside. They come together and start breaking the shops and burning them or stealing things.”
Like other retunees , Godwin Egbebike is happy to be home. He said that what he saw during the attacks left him without appetite for days. “The South Africans are hostile to us,” he said. “They call us Kwerekwere meaning “infidel”. I was selling cars for my boss called Maxwell Dino Okhai. He is still there but will soon come back home. They accused us of many things including snatching their lands. They burnt my boss’s shop with 30 cars worthing about R4.9m. The worst is that the police are not doing anything. They said that it is the foreigners who are spoiling their country. I saw them holding a Nigerian while a big bulldog feasted on his penis.” Talking about his life after this, he said: “My family will accept me like this because money is not everything. Where there is life, there is hope.”
Another returnee, Alima Obade said that owing to the xenophobic attack, the price of air ticket to Nigeria was increased from N200,000 to N600,000, flat rate. All the same, South Africans were torn between two opinions with regard to their exit. The dreadlock-wearing, average height man added that some South Africans were begging them not to go immediately when they saw that they have been offered free flight back home. “They accused us of many things including doing drugs. The truth is that they are lazy and jealous. They used us to train their people and discard us when they are done. It was not an experience I pray to have. I saw a friend burnt to death while I hid inside the house. I could not help him. South Africans will not let you own or start a smallscale business without you employing at least one person from their country. If you rent a shop as a cobbler, they would bring one unserious boy for you to be teaching while he is playing at the same time.”
Between them and South African women
Asked if Nigerian men truly lure their women away from their marital homes as being alleged, Lawan dismissed it with a wave of hand . “Nigerians are not after their women rather their women are after Nigerian men because we treat them well,” he said. “Their men don’t know how to treat their women. They are so violent when it comes to women affairs: they would rather rape their women and girls.”
Godwin agrees. “Their women are sweet to be with because they have wrong men,” he explained. “If you pay half of the attention you pay a Nigerian lady to an South African lady, she would forever love you. Their men are rapists; that is why they have many cases of divorce in the country. Sometimes, some of the South African women are used as bait on us. They lure you into a corner then back out or tell their husband or brothers that you have been asking them out.”
A mother’s reminiscence
When our reporter offered a bottle of water to Nneka Agwu, a mother of four children, she gave it to them first, starting from the eldest, 7, to the youngest, seven months, before gulping down the last drop. “My husband is still there because he is trying to get his money in the banks,” she said as she finished drinking. “Immediately the attacks started the authorities blocked our accounts and restrained us from making any withdrawal from the bank. I almost lost my children if not that our house has a back door. The attackers came through the frontgate throwing a blue keg and lighting up the place immediately. As we tried to escape, the South Africans locked the gate and that was how three people died, a woman her two children. When her husband came back and saw the fire he joined those who were battling the South Africans and he too was killed.”
Abike Dabiri and Onyeama’s narratives
For Dabiri, it was a good step for the nation. She praised the president and the Air Peace management for a display of patriotism. “It is an emotional one for me,” she said. “I am happy that they are back and they also are happy they are back. There is no place like home. You could see the love and solidarity of purpose. We Nigerians can’t be moved by South Africans. The 15-hour delay was to check Nigeria and see if they could deter us.” She added that the second batch will also commence their journey home soon. “We are supposed to bring 317 but the South Africans allowed us to bring one 178. But Air Peace have assured us that they are going to come free-of-charge as soon as they are cleared.”
Asked about the personal cost he has incurred as a result of this venture, Onyeama said all he spent is not worth the value of the lives of his brothers and sisters. “I put in over N280 million in order to bring these people home,” he said. “Air Peace decided to bring them free of charge. Nobody paid us a dime. We decided to do it free-of-charge for our country and our people. When I stepped into the aircraft to welcome them, they mobbed me and started singing the Nigerian national anthem. They felt proud to be Nigerian; they rose in unison. That drew tears from my eyes.”