Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Kabir Bala has revealed that over 6,000 Nigerians are being investigated by the South African authorities for various crimes.
The High Commissioner said the statistics which is from the South African Police Service also revealed that the crimes centered on drug-related offences, murder, fraud and armed robbery.
“We have to look at it from a proper perspective so that we don’t tilt the balance. And then we overlook the fact that some of our nationals engage in things that are not legal here.
“We have 6, 089 of them having cases that are being concluded or investigated and some of them in prison, we have them,” he said.
Admitting that the figures gotten after a diplomatic meeting which had South Africa’s Police Minister Bheki Cele and other top police officials present were shocking, Bala told Channels Television that these Nigerians have the right to a fair trial before being convicted according to the country’s laws if found guilty.