Nigeria has warned that it may review bilateral privileges enjoyed by South African businesses and nationals after accusing Pretoria of failing to respond robustly to a renewed wave of xenophobic attacks targeting Nigerians.
Speaking after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the government was increasingly frustrated by what it viewed as South Africa’s inadequate response to attacks on Nigerian citizens and their businesses.
The minister rejected suggestions by some South African authorities that those affected were undocumented migrants, insisting that many of the victims were legally resident entrepreneurs whose properties had been looted and destroyed.
“Our citizens are being harassed. Our citizens’ properties are being looted. Criminal actions are being perpetrated, and the police refuse to do anything,” she said. “The South African government has not come out strongly and firmly enough to condemn these incidents.”
According to Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Nigerians operating legitimate businesses in South Africa have seen their shops looted and set ablaze, while some families have reported intimidation in schools and communities.
The minister said the situation was particularly painful given Nigeria’s historic role in supporting South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. She recalled the financial, political and diplomatic support provided by successive Nigerian governments, as well as solidarity campaigns organised by ordinary Nigerians during the anti-apartheid era.
“Nigeria is not happy with South Africa,” she said. “Nigeria sacrificed much for the South African struggle for independence. Nigeria committed funds and resources. In schools, seats were reserved for South African students.”
She also argued that the hostility appeared to be directed disproportionately at black African migrants. “They are not asking other migrants to leave. They are only asking black migrants to leave,” she said.
Asked whether Nigeria was considering retaliatory measures, including restrictions affecting South African businesses operating in the country, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the option remained under consideration at the highest levels of government.
“That is a situation that we are considering,” she said. “This is a decision that has to be taken at the highest level of government. But it is not off the table.”
Her comments come after the House of Representatives recommended a temporary suspension of business permits for South African companies in Nigeria, while the Senate resolved to dispatch a high-level delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio to formally convey Nigeria’s concerns to Pretoria.
The minister also confirmed that President Tinubu had authorised five evacuation flights to repatriate Nigerians wishing to leave South Africa. The operation, to be carried out by Air Peace in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency and other government bodies, will also include rehabilitation support for returnees.
As of Monday, 1,092 Nigerians had registered for voluntary evacuation, with more than 500 already screened and cleared for travel. Authorities have extended the screening process until 10 June to accommodate additional applicants.
The first evacuation flight, initially scheduled to depart Johannesburg on Monday with about 270 passengers, has been postponed until Wednesday. Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the delay was due to logistical and operational considerations rather than diplomatic obstacles.
“This evacuation is being undertaken with NEMA,” she said. “We are doing that with various government agencies and parastatals to ensure that once Nigerians come in, they can be rehabilitated.”
The current tensions follow anti-immigration demonstrations organised by groups including Operation Dudula and March for March in late April, which heightened fears among migrant communities across several South African provinces.
South Africa’s government has publicly questioned Nigeria’s evacuation plans. Odumegwu-Ojukwu revealed that during a telephone conversation on 7 May, her South African counterpart expressed reservations about the move.
She said she responded by stressing that Abuja could not “stand by and watch the systematic harassment and humiliation” of Nigerians in South Africa, adding that protecting citizens who wished to return home remained the government’s overriding priority.
The latest dispute revives long-standing tensions between Africa’s two largest economies. Previous waves of xenophobic violence in 2008, 2015 and 2019 left dozens dead, displaced thousands of foreign nationals and repeatedly strained diplomatic relations between Abuja and Pretoria.
During the 2019 attacks, Air Peace founder Allen Onyema offered free evacuation flights for Nigerians seeking to leave South Africa, while Nigeria temporarily recalled its High Commissioner amid public anger and retaliatory attacks on South African-owned businesses at home.
The renewed crisis threatens to reopen one of the most sensitive fault lines in the relationship between the two countries, with diplomatic tensions rising as Nigeria presses Pretoria to take stronger action against those responsible for the attacks.
