ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government has issued a stern warning to South Africa following a spike in xenophobic tensions and reported extrajudicial killings of Nigerian nationals.
Okay News reports that Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu held a telephone discussion on Thursday with her South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola, to address the escalating harassment of Nigerians. The Minister emphasized that Nigeria will no longer tolerate the systematic humiliation of its people or the bullying of Nigerian children in South African schools.
The diplomatic friction comes as President Bola Tinubu directed Nigerian missions in South Africa to establish a crisis notification unit. This move is part of a broader plan to coordinate the voluntary evacuation of Nigerians who no longer feel safe due to anti-migrant protests in cities like Durban and Pretoria.
South African officials have expressed concern over the planned evacuations and pledged to work with education authorities to curb the targeting of foreign students. However, the Nigerian government maintains that its priority is the safety of its citizens and has called for immediate accountability within the South African justice system for those responsible for the violence.
