A Nigerian returnee from South Africa, Raji Nusirat, has shared her experience of alleged harassment by police and immigration officers, saying the treatment she faced made life unbearable.
In a video from 1:01 shared by Vanguard, speaking about xenophobic attacks, Nusirat said she and other Nigerians were regularly targeted, adding that even their children were harassed in school. She claimed they could not move freely on the streets without being stopped by police.
Nusirat recalled one night when she was arrested while returning home from work. She said she explained that her immigration documents were in her apartment and expected the officers to verify them there.
According to her, the officers never took her to a police station. She said she had to call her brothers to raise the money before she was dropped off halfway to her home, leaving her worried because her children were alone.
She also described another incident during an immigration operation at a salon. Nusirat said customers immediately brought out their documents, but the female police officer leading the operation allegedly refused to check them. Instead, she reportedly told them she did not want to see their papers and ordered them to return to their country because she hated them.
Nusirat said that encounter was the turning point for her. She explained that she became tired of living in South Africa.
In her words, “There was a day we were in the salon, and there was an immigration operation that day, so a police officer, a woman, headed the operation, when she barged into the salon, people brought out their papers, her first statement was, ‘We don’t want your papers, we hate you guys, go back to your country….See More