President Bola Tinubu has refused to receive a special envoy sent by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The snub comes as xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa continue, and less than 24 hours after a Nigerian national was allegedly tortured to death by police in Cape Town.
South African delegation led by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola arrived in Abuja on Friday, July 24, carrying what officials described as a “very important message” for Tinubu.
Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu advised the Presidency against granting the delegation an audience, citing the ongoing attacks on Nigerians and their businesses in South Africa, according to diplomatic sources.
The minister insisted South Africa must first sign and commit to the Early Warning Mechanism agreement both countries reached in Abuja last October, before any further engagement. South Africa has yet to ratify that pact, citing reasons Nigerian officials call inadequate.
The mechanism was designed to help both countries track threats of violence, protect citizens, and speed up communication to head off attacks on foreign nationals. It would also have opened a path for Nigerians to claim compensation for property destroyed in xenophobic violence — but South African authorities have resisted this, arguing that only formally registered properties qualify, while structures in informal settlements don’t count.
As of press time, Tinubu had not agreed to meet the envoy, and the outcome of a weekend phone call reportedly initiated by Ramaphosa remained unclear.
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The diplomatic freeze follows the death of Chika Ibe, a Nigerian allegedly picked up from his home in Bellville, Cape Town, and killed by South African police. Vanguard obtained video footage of the incident from the Nigerian community in South Africa.
Police say Ibe, 42, collapsed while being arrested during a search that turned up an unlicensed firearm and suspected drugs. But footage obtained by Vanguard tells a different story — showing Ibe, already hit by a rubber bullet, shot by an officer standing guard nearby.
South Africa’s Independent Police Investigative Directorate says a preliminary post-mortem found multiple bruises and abrasions on Ibe’s back and chest. The country’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration confirmed the case is under investigation.
The killing, which happened Thursday, July 23, triggered protests from Nigerians at the scene. In the footage, a man speaking Igbo can be heard decrying the shooting and calling on the community to respond.
Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa called the incident “a very unfortunate situation.”
Nigeria has kept up pressure on the xenophobia issue beyond bilateral channels. At the 69th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Lungi, Sierra Leone, Vice President Kashim Shettima — standing in for Tinubu — condemned the attacks and pledged Nigeria would push for tougher continental measures against xenophobia at the African Union.
Shettima called for a unified African response to protect the dignity of Africans across the continent, and told the gathering that the federal government has evacuated 1,490 Nigerians affected by the violence.
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