By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The federal government strongly condemns the killing of two Nigerian nationals in South Africa and is demanding urgent investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Mr. Emeka Charles Iroegbu was allegedly killed by Tshwane Metro Police officers on June 28th in Pretoria, while Mr. Musa Yunana Joe, popularly known as Big Joe, was shot dead in front of his shop in Witbank on the same day.
Earlier, on 20th April 2026, these same officers were allegedly responsible for the extra-judicial killing of another Nigerian, Mr. Nnaemeka Mathew Andrew Ekpenyong.
Of great concern is that the killing was committed by yet-to-be-identified criminals.
This raises questions about deliberate attempts by some elements to wrongfully generalise and tag well-meaning, hard-working, and respectable Nigerians as criminals.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry further expresses concern over what it described as the targeting of Nigerians amid rising xenophobic protests and condemned unguarded public statements by South African officials as hate speech.
The gang leaders of groups such as March on March and Operation Dudula, who incite violence and hate against fellow Africans, will also be held to account as a matter of regional and international criminal liability.
The Federal Government, therefore, calls on South African authorities to conduct urgent investigations into the two killings and several other pending cases of extra-judicial killings of Nigerian nationals and bring perpetrators to justice, warning that all options remain on the table if the trend continues.
Meanwhile, the evacuation process of registered Nigerians continues.
