RismadarVoice Reporters
May 7, 2026
President Bola Tinubu has directed Nigerian diplomatic missions in South Africa to immediately establish a crisis notification unit for distressed citizens amid rising anti-foreigner tensions in the country.
The directive came as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, warned that the ongoing hostility against foreigners in South Africa may be more accurately described as “Afriphobia” rather than xenophobia.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu disclosed the development on Thursday following a telephone conversation with her South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola, amid growing concerns over the safety of Nigerians in the southern African nation.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu, has directed that the Nigerian missions in South Africa set up, with immediate effect, a crisis notifications unit for imperilled citizens who have also been advised first and foremost to contact SA security authorities whenever dangerous situations arise,” the minister said in a statement.
She revealed that Lamola expressed reservations over Nigeria’s plans to evacuate citizens willing to return home, but insisted that the Nigerian government could not remain passive while its nationals faced harassment and violence.
“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 said.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu also urged South African authorities to ensure that cases involving the alleged extrajudicial killings of Nigerians were treated with urgency and seriousness.
“I also highlighted the need for their police and justice systems to take the cases on the ground of extra-judicial killings of Nigerians in South Africa more seriously and that there should be clear and immediate consequences for such acts,” the minister added.
The minister further condemned what she described as violent and inflammatory rhetoric by anti-foreigner political groups in South Africa, warning that such actions could threaten bilateral relations and expose South African interests in Nigeria to potential backlash.
“Our discussions also centred on the violent and indiscriminate rhetoric and actions of South Africa’s anti-foreigner political parties which put the lives and properties of Nigerian and other nationals at risk, but which conversely might also have the effect of jeopardising the safety of South African interests in Nigeria,” she stated.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu disclosed that Nigerian children and those born to Nigerian and South African parents commonly referred to as “Sougerians” were increasingly facing bullying and discrimination in schools, with some reportedly being taunted to “return to their country.”
“This is reprehensible and capable of causing trauma to young minds for whom such incidents may remain etched in memory,” she said.
According to the minister, Lamola acknowledged South Africa’s responsibility to protect innocent children and assured that authorities were engaging educational supervisory bodies to discourage such conduct.
She, however, commended Nigerians living in the volatile environment for exercising restraint despite mounting tensions.
