The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, on Saturday shutdown the Ogun State outlet of South Africa’s giant mall, Shoprite located at Ota.
The students were protesting what they termed “unrestrained xenophobic attacks” on Nigerians in South Africa.
Weekend shoppers were hurridly ordered out of the busy mall at about 11:10 a.m. in the presence of policemen.
The students, in their numbers, carried placards with inscriptions: “South Africans must go. Enough of the killing of our brothers, sisters and relatives in South Africa. You can’t continue to kill our people and still feed fat on us.’’
Addressing newsmen, the National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Azeez Adeyemi, said that the leadership of the students under the present President, Danielson Bamidele, had resolved to champion the struggle of putting sense back into lawless South Africans.
He said: “It seems the government of South Africa derives pleasure from the senseless killings and sees the continuous xenophobic attacks on Nigerians residents in South Africa as a norm.
“NANS’ struggle against xenophobia has moved beyond ordinary street protests.
“Our target now is to mobilise Nigerian students and Nigerians towards truncating the smooth running of South African businesses in Nigeria.
“We shall resume here at Shoprite, Stanbic IBTC, MTN and Multichoice on Aug. 14 for a total shut down.
“This is a struggle that will continue until victory of purpose is achieved.”
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoting unofficial estimates, up to 800,000 Nigerians, mainly young people reside in South Africa.
Also, no fewer than 128 Nigerians are said to have been killed in the country since 2016, many of them by South African policemen.
