Former Minister of External Affairs, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi has advised the federal government to take South Africa to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for allegedly sponsoring xenophobic attacks against Nigerians.
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Akinyemi said there was no doubt South African government and officials had a hand in the organised attacks against Nigerians across the nation.
He accused South Africa leaders of inciting the attacks through hate speeches and profiling of Nigerians, stating they too should be reported at the ICJ.
In a statement on Sunday titled South African culpability on Xenophobic attacks on Nigerians, Akinyemi also pointed out the anti-immigrant acts of South Africa against Nigerians at the point of evacuation offered more than enough evidence for the federal government to seek legal redress.
According to him: “I have come to the conclusion that the Xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants are acts sponsored or condoned by the South African state in violation of:
“Article 2, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
“Article 2, paragraph 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
“United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers.”
He called for filing of suits against South African officials and diplomats who incited and fuelled the attacks, stating there were guilty of “failure of care and protection of Nigerian citizens resident there.”
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