Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu confirmed that two Nigerian nationals were killed in South Africa amid the ongoing anti-immigration protest and attacks by South Africans on foreign nationals. The minister stated that there are no signs of the situation improving.
The victims, Musa Yunana Joe and Charles Iroegbu, were both unfortunately killed on June 28. Musa Yunana Joe was reportedly killed in front of his shop in eMalahleni by unidentified attackers, while Charles Iroegbu died during police interrogation in Pretoria.
The South African police force said that Joe’s death didn’t appear linked to the protest, but they are yet to comment on Iroegbu’s death.
The deaths come amid a wider wave of xenophobic violence sweeping South Africa, with over 120 protests recorded nationwide on June 30 alone, with Ghana and Mozambique also reporting cases of their citizens being killed. Nigeria’s foreign ministry says the killings raise concerns about “deliberate attempts” to wrongly generalise hard-working Nigerians as criminals.
