By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, March 7 (Reuters) – South Africa and Nigeria
are embroiled in a diplomatic spat after the authorities at
Johannesburg airport deported 125 Nigerians, alleging their
yellow fever vaccination certificates were fakes – the latest
twist in a long-standing rivalry between Africa’s two biggest
economies.
Nigeria has responded with undisguised tit-for-tat
deportations of 84 South Africans in the past two days,
according to a senior official at the State Security Service who
could not be named.
“South Africans will know we are very serious with this
matter and that any deportation of any Nigerian, we will meet it
with equal reciprocal measure,” Foreign Minister Olugbenga
Ashiru told a hearing at the National Assembly late on Tuesday.
“What you see playing out is … xenophobia by South
Africans against all Africans, not just Nigerians, including
even those from their neighbouring countries,” he said.
A spokesman for South Africa’s home affairs department said
the decision to deport the Nigerians stemmed purely from
concerns about health.
“It’s not an immigration issue, it’s a health matter …
Nobody without a yellow fever certificate is allowed into the
country and that’s what this is,” said Ronnie Mamoepa.
Cards proving vaccination against yellow fever – a deadly
mosquito-borne disease – are required by most African countries
for entry. But they sometimes serve as a lever for immigration
officials to obstruct travel or extort bribes.
Olugbenga warned that Nigeria could take broader retaliatory
measures, including a clampdown on South African companies.
Continued…
