Nigerian returnee, Okafor Ugochukwu, has shared his heartbreaking experience of fleeing South Africa without his two daughters after repeated xenophobic attacks destroyed his businesses and left him homeless.
Speaking in an interview with Vanguard, the Anambra State indigene said he left Nigeria in 2014 in search of better opportunities and spent about 10 years living and doing business in South Africa.
According to him, he travelled through Tanzania and Mozambique before eventually settling in Johannesburg, where he established a clothing business.
“I’ve been there like 10 years. I left Nigeria in 2014 because I wanted to travel. I have been to Tanzania, I have been to Mozambique, but I spent my good 10 years in South Africa. I was doing business there. I had a boutique where I sold clothes,” he said.
Ugochukwu explained that he intended to return to Nigeria in 2017, but passport-related immigration issues prevented him from travelling. After his flight ticket expired, he used his remaining money to start another business.
“I bought my ticket in 2017 because I wanted to return home, but I was denied because of issues with my passport. The ticket expired, so I used the little money I had left to start another business,” he said.
He said his first business was destroyed during xenophobic attacks in 2018. With financial support from relatives in Nigeria, he started another business selling earphones, hair products and other accessories, but that business also suffered the same fate during another wave of attacks.
“They came to my place. They burnt my place and destroyed my business. I lost everything. I had no choice but to run because my life is very important,” he said.
The latest attack, he said, forced him to flee South Africa with nothing.
“I left my place without anything. I left broke. My house and everything were destroyed. I’m stranded. I’m homeless. I’m down,” he said.
Ugochukwu described leaving behind his two daughters as the most painful part of his ordeal.
“I do have two girls back there. I’m so sorry and disappointed,” he said.
He said he sought refuge at the Nigerian Consulate in Pretoria before he was evacuated to Nigeria, thanking the Federal Government for facilitating his return.
“Thank God for our President for making it possible for us to return to Nigeria because when there is life, there is hope,” he said.
Rejecting claims that Nigerians are responsible for unemployment and crime in South Africa, Ugochukwu said many Nigerians own legitimate businesses and are simply trying to earn a living.
“The only thing they tell us is that we are taking their jobs and taking their women. But I don’t understand that because most Nigerians there have their own businesses. We have our own shops. We are there to survive,” he said.
He also lamented that many Nigerians are unfairly labelled as criminals.
“Sometimes they think everybody is a drug dealer or involved in illegal things. But no, we are all there to survive and make an honest living,” he added.
Describing the situation faced by foreigners, Ugochukwu said, “Staying in South Africa is like a war zone. When your fellow blacks see you as a threat and keep telling you to go back to your country, life becomes very difficult.”
He appealed to the Nigerian government to support returnees as they work to rebuild their lives.
“I’m back in Nigeria to start my life again. I just hope and pray that the government will assist us in one way or another so we can get back on our feet. Even though I lost everything, I’m happy to be back home because when there is life, there is hope,” he said.
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