Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government has called on the 16 state governors whose indigenes were among the first batch of 187 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa as a result of xenophobic attacks to step up assistance to their indigenes.
Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, while giving updates on the returnees at a press conference, stressed that they were not criminals as alleged by South Africans, but hardworking Nigerians who lost all they had, including businesses, just for being blacks and Nigerians.
Among the returnees were more than 30 children and a widow with four children, with Ogun State having the highest number of 30; the second largest was Imo, with 28; while Kogi and Benue had the least number at one person each.
The states of the returnees are: Abia, 7; Anambra, 13; Benue, 1; Delta, 15; Ebonyi, 2; Edo, 13; Ekiti, 6; and Enugu, 7.
Others are Kogi, 1; Kwara, 3; Lagos, 7; Osun, 6; Ondo, 6; and Oyo, 23.
Dabiri-Erewa said the returnees were profiled according to their states, and she expects the governors to take responsibility for them.
She also said the list containing details of the returnees would be forwarded to the various states to ensure proper reintegration.
“I am going to stress one thing, those who returned are not criminals, in fact, they are very hardworking Nigerians and have lost everything they have ever worked for in South Africa,’’ she said.
“So their only crime is being black and being Nigerian. We had fathers separated from their children, we have a widow with four children who just had to come back home. There are already offers for scholarships for her children.”
Dabiri-Erewa also said 319 Nigerian citizens would be returning to the country from South Africa tonight.
Last Wednesday, the first of batch of returnees arrived in Nigeria.
The NIDCOM CEO said her commission was already communicating with every state listed and the information has been sent to them but they would take the final decision, adding that the widow with four children was from Ondo State and the government of the state was already trying to ensure the children are enrolled in school.