Placard-carrying protesters disrupted activities at the headquarters of telecommunications giant, MTN on Friday over the continued xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other African nationals in the country, the Punch is reporting.
MTN, Nigeria’s biggest mobile communication provider is South African-owned.
The protest, which was organised by the Human Rights Defenders and Advocacy Centre, disrupted business activities for over three hours and caused traffic gridlock around the area.
President of Human Rights Defenders and Advocacy Centre, Queen Rose Ameh, said the xenophobic attacks on other black Africans was barbaric and action needed to be taken to stop it.
“Killing of innocent Africans living in South Africa is a barbaric attitude towards our fellow human beings,” she said.
She stated that this was not the first time South Africans would attack other Africans.
“It happened about two or three years ago. We went to the South African embassy at the time and shut it down,” she said.
She said the South African Government is ungrateful of the role played by Nigeria and African other countries during the apartheid era.
There have been repeated xenophobic attacks by angry South Africans who blame black African immigrants for crime and taking over scarce jobs. Nigerians in the country have been particularly targetted in these attacks. Recent attacks have also targetted Somali nationals and other Africans.
