Xenophobia: Angry Protesters Attack, Vandalise MTN Office In Abuja

Protesters attacked and vandalised the head office of MTN Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday, leaving several employees injured.

“They are protesting against the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. It’s our regional head office in Abuja. That’s where we have our customer care center,” an MTN spokesman told Reuters.

“They vandalised equipment, stole customer phones and I-Pads. Some customers too were attacked.”

South Africans last Saturday in Pretoria West, attacked Nigerians, raiding their homes and killing dozens in gory pictures widely circulated on social media sites.

According to eye witness account in Abuja, after the angry protesters broke the glasses, the MTN employees started running for shelter. Some of them also went inside the washroom, while some locked themselves up in the secure vault area of the office.  The security guards who tried to stop the crowd were badly injured.

A South African government source described the attack as serious. “This wasn’t just some people on the street throwing stones. They broke into the building and stole things and broke things,” the source said.

The incident coincided with a visit by MTN chairman Phuthuma Nhleko to the Nigerian capital to see Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who has been in charge for the last month in the absence on sick leave of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigeria and South Africa, the continent’s two largest economies and pre-eminent diplomatic and military powers, enjoy a volatile relationship.

This week, at least 20 shops believed to belong to immigrants were looted in South Africa’s capital although police refused to say if the attackers were specifically targeting foreigners.

Anti-immigrant violence flares sporadically in South Africa, fuelled by persistent 26 per cent unemployment and a belief that African foreigners, some of them illegal immigrants, are taking jobs from locals.