The House of Representatives has commenced investigation into the immigration documents of Chinese immigrants living in Nigeria.
The investigation which began on July 20 in Abuja, is being conducted by the joint house committees on Interior, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring and Commerce.
Femi Gbajabimila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives recalled how photos and videos went viral on the social media in April, allegedly depicted institutionalised racial discrimination and maltreatment of Nigerians in China.
According to the Speaker, it also showed xenophobic assaults, embarrassments, illegal detentions and forceful evictions of Nigerians and other Africans living in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.
He said:
Subsequently, the House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 28, issued a strong-worded House Resolutions, condemned, in its entirety, the maltreatment, discrimination and xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in the Peoples Republic of China.
Apart from urging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to provide financial and other assistance to affected Nigerian citizens in China, the house took a two-pronged approach by constituting two joint committees to undertake two specific assignments towards remedying the ugly situation.
The speaker said that the house also mandated the House Committees on Foreign Affairs, Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Human Rights, and Diaspora to ascertain the extent of violation of rights of Nigerians in China, as well as losses arising from such maltreatments, and to further engage the Chinese Parliament appropriately to register Nigeria’s National Assembly condemnation of the maltreatment.
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Gbajabiamila further stated:
I, therefore implore all the relevant stakeholders to assist the joint committee in discharging the mandate entrusted to it.
The joint committee is imbued with legal and statutory powers to conduct this hearing as stipulated in the Standing Orders of the House, Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2017 and the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The powers include right to order attendance of witnesses, issuance and service of summons to attend and power to issue warrants to compel attendance.
We are all partners in progress and I trust that the joint committee will be fair in the conduct of its assignment.
