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The Nigerian federal government could be asking South Africa to pay more than R5 million in compensation to its nationals in the country following a spate of xenophobic attacks.

This has emerged even as a South African government official said the diplomatic spat between the two countries had ended and they considered the matter closed.

But national president of the Nigerian Union SA (Nusa) Ike Anyene said the compensation matter would be raised at the next meeting of the SA-Nigeria Binational Commission, which is periodically convened by the deputy presidents of the two countries. The last meeting appeared to have been in 2012.

It is unclear when the next meeting will be.

“What our government wants to do is request from the South African government to compensate what the Nigerians lost. Some of these shops that were looted were not insured and cannot claim from insurance,” Anyene said.

As far as has been established, Nigerians were not among those who died or were seriously injured in the xenophobic attacks.

But there seems to be a disagreement between Nigerians about the claimed amount.

Nusa, which is based in Johannesburg at the Nigerian Consulate, originally estimated the damage at R1.2 million, and later R4.6 million. Nigerian newspapers such as The Vanguard, however, this week reported N84 million, or just more than R5 million, would be claimed.

The publisher of a local Nigerian community newspaper, Olaniyi Abodedele, who is based in Pretoria and is close to diplomats in the Nigerian high commission is, however, claiming the victims may have inflated their claims.

He accused Nusa of “unprofessionalism” and exploiting the xenophobia issue for “self-enrichment” while “not minding to cause a divide between two sister countries”. — Sapa.