President Tinubu Snubs South African Envoy Over Xenophobic Violence

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declined to personally receive a special diplomatic envoy sent by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 27, 2026. The delegation, led by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola, arrived in Abuja on July 24 to deliver a message and de-escalate tensions. The snub follows a wave of xenophobic attacks that began in April 2026 and the reported death of Nigerian national Chika Ibe, who was allegedly tortured and killed by the South African Police Service in Cape Town on July 23.

Following advice from Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Tinubu directed the envoys to meet with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sola Enikanolaiye instead. Nigeria is demanding that South Africa first ratify and provide a signed copy of the October 2025 Memorandum of Understanding on the Early Warning Mechanism, a system designed to monitor violence threats and facilitate compensation for Nigerians whose businesses were destroyed in attacks.

During the meeting, Enikanolaiye condemned the recurring Afrophobic violence, noting that nearly 100 Nigerians died in hate-related mob actions in 2022 alone. Ronald Lamola reaffirmed South Africa's opposition to xenophobia and cited the country's debt to Nigeria for its role in fighting apartheid, though he asserted South Africa's sovereign right to enforce immigration laws. Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima pledged at an ECOWAS session to pursue stronger African Union measures against xenophobia following the evacuation of 1,490 Nigerians from previous violence.