Journalist and founder of Nigeria’s #NoMoreMovement, Ireti Bakare-Yusuf, has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately engage South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to secure amnesty for undocumented Nigerians seeking to voluntarily return home, arguing that South Africa’s immigration laws have trapped many Nigerians who are willing to leave but risk arrest if they attempt to do so.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Sunday, Bakare-Yusuf said while the Nigerian government deserved credit for evacuating hundreds of citizens through chartered flights, many more Nigerians remained stranded because South African laws criminalise undocumented migrants attempting to leave the country on their own, making diplomatic intervention urgently necessary.
“The immigration laws of South Africa itself is actually quite xenophobic. So I’m going to face the camera now, because I’m going to say to President Tinubu, at this point, you really need to talk to your brother Africa, President Ramaphosa. And the first and most urgent thing we need is Nigerians are, there are Nigerians who are ready to pay for their own tickets. How do we get us amnesty from prosecution?”
She explained that undocumented Nigerians who attempt to leave the country without government-backed evacuation flights face arrest. “If I were an illegal migrant in South Africa and I’m ready to go home and I buy my ticket and I’ve had enough of this country, do you know if I go to the airport, I will be arrested? I will go to jail. I will be arrested, I will go to court and I will be put in jail.”
Bakare-Yusuf revealed that many undocumented Nigerians have instead chosen to wait for the Nigerian government’s voluntary repatriation programme. “If you go with your official flight, you don’t get arrested. But if you try to go by yourself, you will be arrested.”
She also disclosed that more than 90 Nigerians remain at Lindela Repatriation Centre awaiting deportation. “There are over 90 Nigerians in Lindella, and people stay there for months, for years. South Africa is supposed to deport them. They are not deporting them.”
Bakare-Yusuf said she personally witnessed Nigerian families, including women and children, sleeping outside the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria while waiting for evacuation flights after voluntarily registering to return home. “People then make the decision to sleep outside the commission. Even more serious, there’s also that thing where they think, well, maybe when it’s time, they won’t get hold of me. They might not call me. I’ve seen that. I’ve seen mothers, children, men, and everything.”
Bakare-Yusuf, however, commended Nigerian community leaders, churches, unions and officials at the Nigerian High Commission for providing food, shelter and support to stranded citizens throughout the crisis. “I’ve also seen the good of Nigeria in South Africa. You have the likes of Reverend and Pastor… they took in 70 total strangers into their home. Gave them shelter, Nigerians. You also have the Nigerian unions and churches and stuff who come there to feed and everything.”
She praised Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Ajayi and Consul-General Ambassador Nnenna Akanwa for working closely with Nigerian organisations to coordinate relief efforts for affected nationals. “There’s also been times, I have to commend our people, our mission in South Africa. We have the Chargé d’Affaires, Ambassador Ajayi, and you have the Consul General, Ambassador Nnenna Akanwa. Both of them are focused, They come together, including the two Nigerian unions. You have NUSA, and you have NICASA. They all come together to just make things better.”
Addressing the root causes of the anti-foreigner violence, Bakare-Yusuf argued that South Africans have genuine grievances over unemployment. “They have every right to be angry. But certainly, it is not the 4.5% migrants who are stealing those away from them.”
She blamed successive governments for failing to address citizens’ concerns. “When governments fail, they tend to deflect attention.”
Bakare-Yusuf also criticised the South African government’s response to the crisis, accusing authorities of allowing non-state actors to assume powers that belong to the state by failing to decisively halt anti-migrant campaigns. “Why has the South African government ceded their responsibility, their powers to non-state actors?”
She further condemned the continued extrajudicial killings of migrants. “Nobody, absolutely nobody, should be killed like flies… everybody has the right to innocence until proven guilty.”
Despite the growing diplomatic tensions, Bakare-Yusuf cautioned against allowing relations between Nigeria and South Africa to deteriorate. “I think Africa is nothing without a collaborative Nigeria and South Africa. Without Nigeria and South Africa, who are the strongest pillars of this continent, the continent falls apart.”
She concluded by calling on the African Union and African governments to adopt a zero-tolerance approach. “There needs to be a zero tolerance to ensure this doesn’t repeat itself. 2008, over and over and over again.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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