The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, on Tuesday urged relevant authorities in South Africa to prosecute all those responsible for the spate of xenophobic attacks on fellow Africans in the country.

The body also offered to assist the South African government to help nip the crisis in the bud.

The chairman of the ECOWAS committee of Heads of Governments and President of Ghana, John Mahama, said this at a  press briefing after a meeting with Nigerian president – elect, Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja

He said that ECOWAS was particularly worried about the needless loss of lives and would gladly work with relevant agencies to bring peace back to South Africa.

He advised those behind such attacks to remember the role other countries, particularly Nigeria, played to ensure South Africa’s freedom from apartheid.

“I think that the young people of South Africa do not know what happened before they gained their freedom; the whole of this continent stood behind South Africa to fight against apartheid,” he observed.

He continued: “I remember all of us who, growing up as secondary school children, went on marches and were part of the African Youth Command who boycotted classes and all that all in the fight against apartheid.”

Mahama expressed dismay that the citizens of the countries being brutalized in South Africa today are from the same nations ” that were called frontline states that harboured the freedom fighters of South Africa and gave them safe haven and gave them passports to be able to avoid the clutches of the apartheid regime.”

The Ghanaian President said that he was appalled by the horrific pictures of the carnage in South Africa currently trending on the social media.

He said further that the immediate desire of ECOWAS was to ensure greater integration of the African continent adding that the current xenophobic attacks was a dangerous trend all Africans must rise up to condemn.