South African Envoy Rallies Support against Criminals

South African Envoy Rallies Support against Criminals

By Adedayo Akinwale

The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Thami Mseleku, has called for concerted efforts between Nigeria and South Africa to isolate criminals creating bad image for the two countries.

Mseleku added that there was urgent need to activate the Early Warning System (EAS) under the Bi-National Commission signed by the two countries to stem the tide of criminality.

The envoy explained that under the system, security and intelligence network as well as people-to-people relations would be greatly achieved.

The envoy who just resumed as the country’s Ambassador to Nigeria disclosed this yesterday when he led a delegation of South African officials to pay a courtesy call on the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

In a statement issued yesterday by the Commission’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Mr. Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Mseleku however debunked the rumour in social media that Nigerians have been asked to vacate the country, saying Nigerians are excelling in all fields of human endeavours in South Africa contributing to its national development.

He said, “So, all these rumours labelling Nigerians as criminals are not true just as not all South Africans are xenophobic in nature”,

Mseleku alleged that some politicians were behind some of the crises in South Africa using it for political gains against Nigerians.

The Envoy revealed that he was working closely with the Nigerian Embassy in SouthAfrica to foil the schemes of fake news authors, who incite news to cause frictions between the two countries, through monitoring of information and knowledge sharing.

Speaking, Dabiri-Erewa said many Nigerians are in South Africa contributing to both the national development of the two countries.

She said that lack of knowledge on the part of some people in South Africa was responsible for the xenophobic attacks on the blacks ,stressing that the commission was ready to work with the High Commissioner to nip it in the bud.

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