The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, is meeting with South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, over the recurring xenophobic attacks targeting Nigerians and other African nationals in South Africa.
Lamola is in Nigeria as a special envoy of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Speaking at the meeting, Enikanolaiye said President Bola Tinubu directed the engagement to address the persistent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa and seek lasting solutions to the crisis.
He urged the South African government to take urgent and concrete steps to end what Nigeria described as recurring Afrophobic attacks, warning that the violence threatens the longstanding strategic partnership between Africa’s two largest economies.
The minister recalled Nigeria’s pivotal role in supporting South Africa’s struggle against apartheid and the enduring cooperation between both countries in transforming the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU), as well as advancing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Enikanolaiye also expressed concern over what he described as a persistent pattern of xenophobic violence, noting that major incidents had been recorded in 1995, 1998, 2006, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2026.
Details later…
