Amidst rising incidents of racial attacks being directed at the Africans in China, the Nigerian government has issued emergency evacuation forms asking its diaspora in the Chinese mainland that they can return home --- provided they have the means to pay for their return flights.
Now over 2000 Nigerians are waiting for the Nigerian government to immediately take them out of China.
The Nigerian government issued an immediate evacuation order following the "maltreatment of Nigerians in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China. The government sources said that it was focusing on the "affected" persons.
China and Nigeria have had long business relations extending over a decade that has seen Beijing investing heavily in the country. The last few weeks, however, have been trying for both the nations. Nigerians along with other Africans in China have been subjected to racial violence over fears that the Blacks were spreading coronavirus.
Viral videos shared online showed Africans in China being brutally beaten up by the Chinese mob over claims that they were the reason for a second-wave of coronavirus outbreak. Even shopping malls and restaurants have put up signs barring Africans.
This week, McDonald's was forced issue an apology after a restaurant in China banned black people. The McDonald's in Guangzhou put up a sign that said: "black people are not allowed to enter."
Nigeria reportedly this week for the second time summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, to register Nigeria's displeasure over the treatment of Nigerians in Africa. The government has announced compensation for 100 Nigerians, who were evicted from homes and hotels in Guangzhou.
Nigerians await evacuation from China
Even as the Nigerian government has issued the evacuation process, many Nigerians, it is believed lack the resources to return back. As per local reports from Nigeria, more 2,000 Nigerians in China are waiting for the government to start the evacuation.
"Quite a lot of them said they just wanted to come home and we are putting in place as quickly as possible the mechanisms to start bringing them home. That clearly is the immediate solution here," said Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama Nigerian news source Punch.
Nigerians destroy Chinese-owned business in Nigeria
Inside Nigeria, there seems to be an increase in angry among the locals over the disrespect that Africans were facing in China over the COVID 19 outbreak issue. There have reports of Nigerians targeting Chinese factories and shops. A video of a Chinese owned factories being burned in Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone went viral. The business part in Ogun is a free trade zone in which China has an investment of over $2 billion.
