A federal agency just shut down a Chinese supermarket in the Nigerian capital of Abuja that banned Nigerians from shopping on its premises.
Videos shared thousands of times on social media over the weekend show several Nigerians confirming they were denied entry into a Chinese supermarket within the China General Chamber of Commerce complex. Management reportedly told them they only allow Chinese citizens to shop and dine there.
A correspondent for the Nigerian media outlet, The PunchNG, confirmed the admission policy after visiting the store. Security personnel told the reporter that management started enforcing the rule at the beginning of the year. The reasons for the directive are unknown, but the guard said prospective shoppers who are not of Chinese descent were not allowed past the gate to the complex that houses the facility.
A facility manager said that Nigerians within the complex can shop at the store.
On Monday, multiple media outlets reported that officials with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) shut down the market for the time being after interrogating its Nigerian workers. Those staffers told the agents that the supermarket’s owner, Cindy Liu Bei, fled the store Monday morning with her family. The family was caught on surveillance cameras leaving the store.
X user @dammiedammie35 posted a video on Sunday describing how he wanted to visit the supermarket after hearing about the products it sells online. However, when he tried to visit, he was denied entry. His video was reposted nearly 2,000 times.
“This supermarket is here in Abuja and a Nigerian cannot enter. This is a joke. So that means a Chinese guy has more rights than you here in Nigeria. Chinese guys are allowed to visit anywhere in the country. Now I am going back to our local supermarket because they said I cannot enter.”
Another video posted by @NigeriaStories on X shows a group of Nigerians being denied entry by the supermarket’s security.
Many who saw those videos circulating online scolded the supermarket’s policy.
“This country is very funny 😂😂😂 We are not wanted home and abroad. If this was done in another country we will say it’s r@cism. So, now it’s happening here what is it called??,” one commenter wrote.
“Omo, in our own country? Nigerians can’t enter to shop in a Chinese supermarket in Nigeria? And yet they are using Nigerians as workers in the same place?” another person asked.
“There’s no valid reason why a company or brand in Nigeria, willn’t be selling to Nigerians; The Chinese restaurant/supermarket is doing the most & this reeks of racism. If Nigerians have done something displeasing, make rules, but not selling to Nigerians in general is beyond ridiculous,” one X user commented.
The China General Chamber of Commerce was established in Abuja in 2010. Its members oversee Chinese enterprises in Nigeria involving oil, gas, engineering contracting, manufacturing, and more.
China is one of Nigeria’s main trading and investment partners. About 30 percent of Nigerian imports originate from China, according to one 2022 report. Chinese companies are also involved in large infrastructure projects in the country and hire thousands of expatriates.
The nation has also financed large projects and helped overhaul and restore Nigera’s four main airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt.
Large populations of Chinese expats can be found throughout of the continent, and the influx of migration has not gone on without controversy or tension.
A Chinese businessman was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April 2022 after for beating two mine workers that he supervised in western Rwanda. Sun Shujun was accused of assault after a video of him striking a Black man tied to a pole went viral.
