The third batch of 32 South Africans were deported by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) on Wednesday, as the diplomatic row between both countries escalates.
The South African travellers were deported on arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos for ”lack of proper documentation”, bringing the total number of South Africans so far deported since Monday to 116, the local media reported Thursday.
But the number is still short of the 125 Nigerians who were deported from the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg last Thursday, for allegedly presenting fake Yellow Cards.
The diplomatic tit-for-tat has worsened the relations between Africa’s two powerful nations, which have a history of cooperation and good relations dating back to the apartheid era.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki was among the hundreds of South Africans who were issued visas and brought to Nigeria at government’s expense as a sign of solidarity with the African National Congress (ANC) at the height of apartheid.
Nigeria believes the reason given for the deportation of its citizens, which sparked the row, was a mere smokescreen to cover up for the country’s perpetual maltreatment of Nigerians.
But the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Mabolo, who had been summoned by the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain the deportation of the Nigerians, said the demand for genuine Yellow Card documentation was not targeted
at Nigerians alone, but at the citizens of all countries in the Yellow Fever belt.
Nigerian health officials said South Africa was wrong to have continued to insist on Yellow fever vaccine documentation from Nigerians, because the last case of the disease recorded in Nigeria was in 1995.
Besides, the officials said, if countries like the US, UK and others are no longer demanding for Yellow Cards from Nigerian travellers, there is no reason for South Africa continue to make a fuss about it.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis are said to be ongoing on both sides.
“Yes, we are very positive about the outcome of the meeting (between Mr. Mabolo and the Nigerian authorities. It is being studied for the appropriate public pronouncement. The high commission is still receiving briefings on the matter. Let me assure you that the matter was taken up at the highest level with the headquarters,” the private Guardian newspaper Thursday quoted the spokesperson of the South Africa High Commission, Mothusi Choeunyane, as saying.