No Nigerian Willing To Leave S/Africa Will Be Left Behind — FG

0

ABUJA – The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bi­anca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said that no Nigerian who has indicated interest in leaving South Africa would be left behind.

No fewer than 1,000 Ni­gerians have registered to be evacuated from South Africa before the June 30 deadline.

The first batch of 258 Nigerian nationals evac­uated by the Federal Gov­ernment on June 11, 2026, has already returned to the  country.

A statement by the minister’s media aide, Dr. Magnus Eze, quoted the minister as giving the as­surance while responding to questions about the fate of Nigerians in South Af­rica.

The minister, according to Eze, said that it is the policy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Administration that no Nigerian would be left to suffer unnecessarily in the hands of misguided Africans.

“She noted that the pres­ident, in furtherance of cit­izen diplomacy, empathises with Nigerians exposed to all manner of discrimi­natory conduct in every part of the world and has directed that those exposed to danger in South Africa who have voluntarily indi­cated willingness to return home must leave before the deadline.

“The minister further indicated that as a law-abid­ing nation, any retaliatory measures against South Africa’s anti-migrant ac­tions would have to follow the due legislative process.

“She explained that so far, the executive arm is actively engaging South Af­rican authorities through diplomatic channels and broader actions.”

The minister also said the National Assembly has a constitutional role to play in determining Nigeria’s response should diplomat­ic engagements fail to halt the attacks on Nigerians and their businesses.

“When it comes to situa­tions like this, of course, it is necessary to be temper­ate and exercise caution. But when your citizens are being harassed, when your citizens are people who have spent years there, and mind you, some of them are married to South Africans and have children who have known no other home but South Africa, then it becomes a serious concern.

“Now, under these cir­cumstances, they are ask­ing not just Nigerians, but also their South African spouses and their children, to leave South Africa,” the minister said.

She continued, “As I in­dicated before, there are these huge conglomerates. By the way, there are over 120 South African compa­nies operating in Nigeria.

“Nobody is asking them to provide proof of identity. Nobody is asking South Af­rican staff working there whether they are South Africans or Nigerians, and nobody is taking over their shops or businesses.

“But this is happening to Nigerians in South Africa. So, I think we really have to review the available op­tions at some point.

“We have MTN, Multi­Choice, Stanbic, Protea and many other South African brands spanning multiple sectors.”

Vigilante groups have reportedly been targeting migrants across several cities, looting their shops, breaking into their homes, and subjecting them to intimidation and humilia­tion. Mobs are also alleged to have killed some foreign nationals, while the police and other security agencies have been accused of doing little to protect migrants or prevent the attacks and calls for them to leave the country.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu further said that the xeno­phobic action “is causing reputational damage, and that is quite sad because the late Madiba, Nelson Mandela – God rest his soul – worked so hard to project South Africa as the bastion of Pan-Africanism.

“And in one fell swoop, these anti-migrant vigilan­te groups have destroyed what this man sacrificed 28 years in prison for. So, it is causing reputational damage.

“Even within South Af­rica itself, people are can­celling concerts, and con­ferences are being called off.

“South Africa has been stained with the stigma of being a xenophobic coun­try. This is not something I think they will be comfort­able with in the long run.”

The minister strongly criticised South Africa’s failure to protect African migrants from xenophobic attacks in the country, not­ing that this has damaged its international reputa­tion and relations. Aside from Nigeria, countries such as Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozam­bique are evacuating their citizens.

Also, the minister dis­closed that the South Afri­can authorities discarded their memorandum of understanding with Nige­ria on the early warning mechanism, which they had signed in October 2025. The pact was essentially to protect the lives and prop­erty of both Nigerians and South Africans in times of conflict like this.

She explained that, in­stead, they faced pushback, with claims that the signa­tories were not the requi­site individuals to validate the documents and that other formalities and pro­cesses needed completion.