Ninety Nigerians Killed in South Africa in 4 Years – Amb. Fani-Kayode
Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani Kayode says no fewer than 90 Nigerians have been killed in South Africa from 2022 to date with none of the culprit arrestedbrought to justice.
He said that the latest was a Nigerian national beaten to death by South African policemen.
Amb. Fani Kayode said this has to stop if relations with South Africa is to stabilise.
“I just watched a secretly recorded video of a Nigerian national being beaten to death by members of the South African police force in his home, and I am mortified. The video is online.
“I listened to the young man’s screams as they put a plastic bag over his head and tortured him, and I was badly shaken.
“The villification, persecution, targetting, extra-judicial killing, racial stereotyping and murder of Nigerians in South Africa is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
“Neither will we continue to be complicit in these crimes against our nationals by remaining silent in the face of them.
“That is the new order, and I made my position clear on this at our meeting with the South African Foreign Minister yesterday. The hate needs to stop.”
The Ambassador said Nigerian lives and souls are precious before God and must be protected.
“Call me a hardliner if you like but a situation whereby since 2022 no less than 90 Nigerians have been murdered by Afrophobic forces, rampaging mobs, South African policemen and others and not one person has been arrested let alone convicted for any of these heinous crimes speaks volumes.
“This year alone, 6 have been killed, and of those 6, three were killed by South African police. Again, there were no arrests, and the one person who was initially arrested was released and has now disappeared.
“In Cape Town a few days ago another of our nationals was allegedly “tortured to death” by South African police in his own home whilst another was shot in the face with a rubber bullet by the same policemen simply for protesting his friends murder.
“If our relations are to stabilise with South Africa, this has to stop.”
He said progress has been made between Nigeria and South Africa to address these grave violations of human lives.
“We have made much progress, and we had a productive meeting with the South Africans yesterday where we agreed to descalate the rhetoric and work closely together to stabilise the situation and build stronger bilateral ties.
“This is a step in the right direction and has brought us hope, but much more needs to be done. Action speaks louder than words.”
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