Nigeria prioritises evacuation amid South African anti-migrant protests
Bianca Ojukwu
Abdullateef Fowewe
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has revealed on Thursday that she held a phone conversation with South Africa’s Foreign Minister, Ronald Lamola, addressing concerns over Nigeria’s plans to evacuate its citizens from South Africa amid escalating anti-foreigner protests.
In her statement, Odumegwu-Ojukwu detailed the discussion, emphasising Nigeria’s firm stance.
“I maintained that our Government cannot stand by and watch the systematic harassment and humiliation of our nationals resident in SA as well as the extra-judicial killings of our people, and that the evacuation of our citizens who want to return home remains our Government’s priority at this time,” she had written in the statement.
The call followed protests in Durban on May 6, 2026, which remained peaceful due to heavy security but prompted Nigerian missions to advise citizens to close businesses and stay indoors.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu highlighted the role of South African anti-foreigner political parties, warning that their “violent and indiscriminate rhetoric and actions, puts the lives and properties of Nigerian and other Nationals at risk, but which conversely might also have the effect jeopardizing the safety of South African interests in Nigeria.”
She also raised alarms about bullying of Nigerian children and those of mixed Nigerian-South African heritage—dubbed “Sougerians”—in schools, noting they are taunted to “return to their country.”
Lamola responded that South African authorities “recognise that they have a responsibility to protect these innocent children and are doing their utmost through education supervisory bodies to discourage these practices.”
Both ministers pledged cooperation to de-escalate tensions, amid condemnations from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
However, Odumegwu-Ojukwu questioned the framing of the unrest, suggesting it targets black Africans specifically and “should not be more accurately defined as ‘Afriphobia’ rather than Xenophobia.”
In response, President Bola Tinubu has directed Nigerian missions in South Africa to immediately establish crisis notification units for imperiled citizens, who are urged to first contact local South African security.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu praised Nigerians’ “commendable restraint” amid the crisis and called for South Africa’s police and justice systems to treat extra-judicial killings seriously, with “clear and immediate consequences.”
