“The Nigerian Government must stop paying lip service to the safety of Nigerians living in South Africa and take concrete steps to guarantee their safety. This is the call made by the Human Rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor.
Ejiofor in a statement on Saturday said Nigeria should aggressively explore all available legitimate diplomatic and legal options to ensure that Nigerians living in South Africa are not harmed.
Several countries have evacuated their citizens from the troubled country, while some lives have reportedly been lost, this comes after xenophobic attacks on foreigners living in South Africa.
He called on the federal government to demand credible investigations and prosecutions, insist on concrete guarantees for the safety of Nigerians living in South Africa and cooperate with regional and continental institutions to ensure that xenophobic violence becomes an accepted feature of African coexistence.
In his release, he said: “The life of every Nigerian is priceless. Our citizens’ blood must never be cheaper than diplomatic courtesies.
“A sovereign state owes its citizens more than sympathy, it owes them protection and justice,” he said.
He noted that the recent diplomatic spat between Ghana and South Africa over the reported killing of Ghanaian national, Bashiru Isak, who was allegedly shot dead in Khayelitsha, Cape Town on June 30, 2026, provides a profound lesson in what responsive statecraft should look like.
Ejiofor said the Government of Ghana did not issue routine expressions of concern but condemned the killing in no uncertain terms as part of the disturbing resurgence of xenophobic violence against African migrants in South Africa.
He said the Ghanaian Government called for an immediate, transparent and thorough investigation, the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators and better protection for Ghanaian nationals living in South Africa.
