Xenophobia: Henry Okah, others attacked in South Africa prisons, says MEND

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines, Niger Delta Sunday, March 5th, 2017

-Punch

Ovie Okpare

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has called on the Nigerian parliamentary delegation to South Africa to extend its fact-finding mission to other Nigerians being kept in solitary confinement in various South Africa prisons.

MEND said secret xenophobic attacks take place in South Africa prisons.

It listed its former leader, Henry Okah, who is currently serving a jail term at Korkstad Prison in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province of South Africa among those suffering xenophobic attacks in the country.

In a statement on Saturday by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, MEND said, “There are hundreds of Nigerians in South Africa who are serving various prison sentences or awaiting trial. From the reports available to us, many of these Nigerians are subjected to xenophobic attacks as they are regularly singled out for harassment, on account of their nationality or arbitrarily isolated in solitary confinement, by South African prison officials.

“We, therefore, call on the Nigerian parliamentary delegation to find time to also visit various prison facilities in South Africa where they will, indeed, be confronted with the real victims of xenophobia in South Africa.”

While commiserating with thousands of Nigerians who had suffered from the recent attack, it added, “We are constrained to draw the attention of the National Assembly delegation to other variants of xenophobic attacks which are not in the public domain.”wp_posts