As Nigerians mourn Obianuju Ndubuisi-Chukwu, a Nigerian insurance chief who was murdered in South Africa, the country again is grappling with the ruthless assassination of a teenager in that country.
The latest killing brings to about 200, Nigerians killed in xenophobic attacks between 2016 and this year.
South Africa is home to about 800,000 Nigerians, mostly young people, according to unofficial records.
Ndubisi-Chukwu was the Deputy Director-General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) and was killed on June 13 in her hotel room.
The teenager, Chinonso Obiaju, 17, a Nigerian still in high school was shot dead in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Adetola Olubajo, who confirmed the killing to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the deceased student lived in Roodepoort, Johannesburg with his guardian.
Mr Olubajo told NAN on the telephone that his guardian, Mike Nsofor, disclosed that he was shot at about 6.30 p.m.
“He went to buy from a shop with his friend and someone chased and opened fire on them, killing him,’’ he quoted the guardian as saying.
He added that the family would be burying him in South Africa, noting that the union’s leaders in Johannesburg would be contacting him on developments.
Mr Olubajo said they were going to the Police on Monday to finalise on the registry and provision of his papers.
“He was born here I learnt and the mother is in the U.S. “I have spoken to Mike Nsofor to pass the Nigerian community’s condolences and call for justice to be served in this case as anybody who hunts down a young schoolboy couldn’t have any justifiable reasons,’’ Mr Olubajo said.
He implored the federal government to urgently protect Nigerians in the Diaspora.(NAN)
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