When this story [South Africans Speak: Nigeria Deported Our People, And Nobody Complained; Millions Will Die Here! - http://ow.ly/LNAKB] went up, the uproar from Nigerian readers, while expected, managed to overwhelm nonetheless.

The general consensus - the understandable consensus - was that a call to action needs to be embarked upon, and some readers suggested a retaliatory approach - giving fire for fire, if you will.

A social commentator on our Facebook page wrote earnestly: "And now, south africa is a big disgrace to africa in general. they are a disgrace to the struggle of africa against colonialism and oppression. this xenophobia attacks keeps repeating itself, because the south african government has been systematically supporting it, by not punishing the perpetrators of this heinous crimes." [Comments are unedited]

Another vehemently suggested Nigeria's firepower be revved up for this: "Pls lets giv dem war...south africa can not withstand our pressure, we hv d best combatants in Africa."

The general opinion ranged from repatriation of the non-South-African Africans in the country to a counterattack on the South African people. Blames were splashed copiously in the general direction of the South African government and, more specifically, towards president Jacob Zuma.

In the midst of the furore, a South African named Tumi Mpholwane, wrote the following comment: "I personally, sincerely would to apologise on behalf of my country for all that has happened in the passed few days. It is the little people who contribute absolutely nothing to the society who initiate these attacks 5/100. They do not know how much we need each other as Africans. People who have zero knowledge on the history of apartheid and the relationship between South Africa and other African countries. My sincere apologies to you good people. We are one as Africans."


Written by: Justin Irabor