Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that two of its citizens were killed in South Africa on June 28, two days before an unofficial deadline protesters had set for foreigners to leave. One was allegedly killed by police officers, the ministry said, and the other by unidentified attackers.
“These two killings come at a time when foreigners are being unduly targeted in South Africa,” ministry spokesman Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa said. He said the deaths raised questions about “a deliberate attempt by some elements to wrongfully generalise and tag well-meaning, hard-working, and respectable Nigerians as criminals.”
Protests in April and May
The deaths followed anti-immigrant protests in April and May. Demonstrators blamed foreigners for high unemployment, crime and pressure on public services. The violence at the protests, and attacks on Africans, led Nigeria, Ghana and Malawi to repatriate their citizens and summon South African diplomats.
More deaths in September
The Foreign Ministry reported two further killings in early September. It said James Uchechukwu Nwankwo died after “gruesome interrogation techniques” by South African police officers in Cape Town on Sept. 5. Taiwo Michael Fakunle, a bishop, was killed at his home in Kensington, Johannesburg, on Sept. 4. The ministry’s statement named no suspects and gave no possible motive in Fakunle’s case. South African police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Spokesman Oluwafemi Adeniyi said the killings “raise questions about the safety of foreigners in the country and the commitment of the South African authorities to curbing targeted attacks against foreigners.” He accused South African police of “exacerbating an already fragile situation.”
On the Friday before that statement, Nigeria’s parliament indefinitely suspended official visits and engagements with South Africa. Minister of state for foreign affairs Sola Enikanolaiye had said in July that at least 98 Nigerians had been killed in South Africa since 2022 in mob attacks, hate-related violence and extrajudicial killings.
South Africa has long drawn migrants from across the continent, many of them Nigerian, because of its relative wealth and opportunity. Sporadic xenophobic violence has followed them. This year’s protests have forced thousands of migrants to leave and strained South Africa’s relations with other African nations.
Sources
- Nigeria says 2 of its nationals killed in South Africa as anti-migrant tensions flare
- Two Nigerians killed in South Africa’s anti-immigrant protest, foreign minister says
