Nigeria and South Africa seek to ease tensions over xenophobic attacks

ABUJA, July 28 - Nigeria said South Africa had agreed to bring to justice those responsible for attacks on foreign nationals, while Abuja was compiling compensation claims for losses suffered by Nigerians as both countries pledged to tone down rhetoric over the violence.

The commitments followed talks in Abuja between Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, and South African International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola on Monday, aimed at easing tensions sparked by attacks on Nigerian nationals in South Africa.

South African vigilante groups have repeatedly targeted foreign African nationals and looted migrant-owned businesses in recent months. Anti-immigrant protesters marched in several cities in June, calling for undocumented migrants to leave the country.

Nigeria repatriated approximately 1,490 citizens following the unrest, Nigeria's foreign ministry said on July 16.

The violence has reignited a longstanding source of friction between Africa's two biggest economies.

"We agreed that we should de-escalate the tension that had erupted between our two countries and our people," Enikanolaiye said after the talks, adding that both sides would lower the temperature of public discourse and preserve ties built through decades of cooperation.

He said South Africa had assured Nigeria that perpetrators of the attacks would be prosecuted and that Abuja was compiling claims for property losses suffered by Nigerians that could form the basis of future compensation discussions.

Nigeria also sought stronger safeguards for its citizens, including an early warning system, increased police protection in violence-prone areas and accountability for those behind the attacks, he said.

Lamola said the South African government condemned "all forms of xenophobia" and stressed that no individual had the right to take the law into their own hands.

"The protest and the violence that is happening is not state-sponsored, it is not condoned by the South African government," he said.

Lamola said Pretoria remained concerned about criminal activities allegedly involving some Nigerian nationals, including drug trafficking and cybercrime, while stressing that such offences should be addressed through the legal system rather than vigilante action.

"We have agreed that all issues of criminality must be dealt with in terms of the law," he said, adding that authorities were pursuing arrests and prosecutions linked to the violence. REUTERS