Wed 04 September 2019:
Security was ramped up around South African businesses across Nigeria on Wednesday following a wave of reprisal attacks in response to violence against foreign-owned shops in South Africa, police said.
The move came a day after stores operated by the major supermarket chain, Shoprite, the telecoms giant MTN and other South African firms suffered looting and vandalism in several Nigerian cities, they said.
South Africa has huge investments in Nigeria, with Shoprite, MTN, digital pay-television Multichoice and other companies jostling for a share of the continent’s biggest market.
AFP reporters saw a heavy security presence on Wednesday at Shoprite’s office at the Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, where MTN also has a branch.
All gates leading into the mall were closed and customers were screened before they were allowed to enter.
“We are in full operations, what we have done is however to intensify security,” said a manager for the mall, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Our action is based on what has happened across the country in reaction to the xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Every customer coming in from today will be screened properly before he or she is allowed in,” he said.
On Monday and Tuesday, mobs descended on business hubs and townships in various parts of South Africa, looting dozens of shops and torching trucks driven by foreigners in an outburst of anti-migrant anger.
Foreigners are accused of taking jobs away from South Africans – nearly one South African worker in three is unemployed.
Nigeria on Tuesday summoned the South African ambassador for talks and said President Muhammadu Buhari was sending an envoy to convey his displeasure to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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