Amid escalating xenophobic protests, an embassy storming, and the killing of a Nigerian businessman in South Africa, the Federal Government has reassured Nigerians still in the country of their safety while continuing evacuation flights that have brought hundreds home.
South Africa is boiling over, and Nigeria is watching closely.
The Federal Government has assured Nigerians still living in South Africa that they remain safe, even as xenophobic tensions escalate and anti-immigrant protests intensify across the country. The reassurance comes after Nigerians reportedly stormed their country’s embassy in Pretoria, and as a Nigerian businessman known as “Big Joe” was shot dead outside his shop in Witbank, Mpumalanga Province, on Sunday.
Thousands marched across major South African cities on Tuesday demanding the removal of undocumented migrants. In Johannesburg, police flooded the city centre while businesses shuttered in the commercial district. The military moved into Hillbrow after reports a teenager was shot and a vehicle torched. Protesters in Yeoville reportedly hurled bricks at migrant homes, while demonstrators in Germiston evicted suspected undocumented foreigners and handed them to police.
March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma vowed the protests would continue weekly for six months, while an Operation Dudula member told the BBC the group would keep pressuring police to arrest undocumented foreigners.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who met protest leaders beforehand, urged calm. “Some foreign nationals who live in South Africa are here lawfully,” he said. “They work, study, raise families, invest in our economy and contribute positively to our society. They too are entitled to the protection of our laws and our Constitution.” He warned the right to protest “does not allow people to threaten or intimidate others, or to engage in acts of vandalism or violence.”
Amid the chaos, 269 more Nigerians landed in Lagos Tuesday aboard Air Peace — the second government-coordinated evacuation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement signed by spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa, said evacuees were received by Ambassador Haruna Ali-Gombe, who relayed President Tinubu’s message “reaffirming the Federal Government’s steadfast commitment to ensure the safety of Nigerian nationals living outside the country.”
South African police say roughly 50,000 undocumented migrants have been arrested since January, with 25,000 already repatriated.
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