Oluwatosin Adeoye, one of the Nigerians evacuated from South Africa following xenophobic attacks in that country, has said South Africans attacking foreign nationals value dogs more than human lives.

The Ogun State native, who said she was working as a caterer in Johannesburg, said she had no choice but to return to Nigeria after her shop was razed by angry xenophobes.

They burnt my car, my shop and everything. I lost almost R100,000 (approximately N2.5m) in my shop.

Narrating her ordeal in the country, Adeoye, who spent seven years in South Africa, said,

“It was horrible, horrendous and nightmarish. I blame myself for going to South Africa in the first place. I found out that all the things I had been doing for seven years went down the drains.

I have nothing to show for the seven years I spent in South Africa. I have come back empty-handed.

I am a caterer; I know I can start from somewhere. I need help seriously. I am seriously downcast.

Adeoye advised Nigerians still in South Africa to return in their own interest, saying

“Even living in South Africa is tough. The money we make there, after paying rents and feeding, there is nothing left. It is not easy to send money back home to our parents. People are suffering there. Again, the lives of Nigerians there are at risk. They kill Nigerians there; they do not like us at all. They slaughter people like animals. It is an awful experience.

I was in Johannesburg. That city is something else. They take pleasure in killing Nigerians. They kill people like dogs; in fact, they value the lives of animals more than humans. They are the Devil incarnate. There is nothing in South Africa again but sorrow, despair, agony and tears. I advise Nigerians there to return home in their own interest.

Adeoye also gave an insight into the attack on Nigerians

The reason some of them give is that some of our Nigerian brothers are dealing in drugs, and engaging in criminality. But from the look of things, they are simply jealous of Nigerians. Some also say that our brothers are sleeping with their sisters and that their ladies no longer agree to date them because of Nigerian men.

I do not like their men. Most of their men are uncircumcised and how can one date such people? Also, they are lazy in bed – they can’t perform well. Again, they are lazy to do anything.