Nigerians Living In Durban South Africa Vow To Fight Back, Battle Line Drawn

A group of Nigerians living in Mahatma
Gandhi Road in Durban have vowed to
defend themselves if attacked by the locals.
Solomon Okoro, 31, according to iol.co.za,
said they have been receiving threatening
messages but were alert and prepared for
any trouble if police are not willing to
protect them. He said they would have
guns, knives and bottles ready. Okoro said
they have no choice but to defend
themselves if under attack.
“It is not like we do not know how to fight.
It would not be a good thing because this is
not our country, we are not here to fight.
Also local people are our friends, we eat and
drink together. Those fighting are racist –
they cannot live side by side with other
Africans.
We (did) a lot for this country during
apartheid. But now that everything is hunky
dory we are being attacked… This smacks
of hypocrisy,” he said.
Okoro is happily married to a Zulu wife and
claims that if he had to go back to Nigeria, it
would have a negative effect on his child.
He disputed the accusation that the
Nigerians living in the Point area were
involved in crime.
“I come from the Igbo tribe. I am a king’s
son and I came here with lots of money to
set up a clothing shop. Most of us are
businessmen who have contributed to the
economy by employing locals in our hair
salons and shops.
These are just greedy people who cannot
stand our success… If these accusations are
anything to go by, why not report those
involved in crime to police? Not every
foreigner is a drug dealer,” Okoro said.
Emmanuel Ike, 35, said his government had
given South Africa an ultimatum to come
up with a solution, otherwise they would
close down all South African businesses.
“There are more than 240 SA businesses in
my country and all of them come with their
own staff, so to say we are taking your
jobs is nonsense. We should be
questioning why you are not employing
our people back home.”
We are a hard working nation who do not
look for handouts from the government.
We work for ourselves,” Ike said.
Kumba Samou, 42, of Liberia said he had
received a desperate call from his mother
asking about his well-being.
“We are seeing what is happening on
television. If you are not safe, please come
home. I do not want you to die there,” she
said.