Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister, said the government was assembling details for voluntary repatriation after a wave of anti-foreigner protests in South Africa and that "So far, 130 applicants have duly registered for the exercise with our mission."
The announcement on Sunday came as President Bola Tinubu ordered heightened monitoring of the situation and stronger protection for Nigerians abroad. Nigeria also summoned South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner, and the ministry said the Nigerian High Commission was following up on investigations into several troubling incidents.
South African authorities described protests in Pretoria and Johannesburg between 27 and 29 April 2026 as largely peaceful, though security operatives occasionally used tear gas to disperse gatherings. The Nigerian government said no Nigerian was killed and no Nigerian-owned property was destroyed during the recent anti-foreigner protests, repeating the line in a situation report posted by Odumegwu-Ojukwu.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu told the public: "The President has reiterated that the priority at this time remains the safety of our citizens" and warned that "There is heightened anxiety over the series of anti-foreigner protests, also targeted at Nigerians in select cities in the Republic of South Africa in recent weeks."
The foreign ministry framed the repatriation option as voluntary and limited: at least 130 Nigerians had registered for evacuation flights, officials said. The move follows online images and reports that intensified international concern and public pressure on both governments to account for the safety of migrants.
There is a sharp contradiction at the center of Lagos’ response. On one hand, the ministry was explicit: "There is no recorded killing of any Nigerian or destruction of Nigerian-owned properties during this particular protest." On the other, two Nigerians reportedly died in separate incidents that officials say involved interactions with security personnel.
One of the dead was named by authorities as Amamiro Chidiebere Emmanuel, who reportedly died from injuries sustained during an encounter with military personnel of the South African National Defence Force; the other, Nnaemeka Matthew Andrew, was found dead after an alleged encounter with metro police officers. Odumegwu-Ojukwu used forceful language in her report, describing the incidents as "condemnable and unacceptable" and including the brief line: "Amamiro Chidiebere Emmanuel die" in the account circulated on social media.
The ministry said the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa was following up on investigations into those deaths and other complaints from citizens. Nigeria and South Africa have an existing memorandum of understanding on early warning mechanisms that is meant to prevent and manage crises affecting citizens of both countries; officials said those channels were being used in the current exchanges.
Diplomacy has moved in parallel to consular work. Abuja’s decision to summon the acting high commissioner signals a desire to escalate the matter beyond routine consular follow-up, even as both capitals try to avoid a public rupture. The government’s insistence that no Nigerians were killed during the protests sits uneasily beside the reported deaths tied to security interactions, and that gap will shape the next stage of engagement.
Another round of demonstrations is expected between 4 and 8 May 2026. The central question now is whether South African authorities can conclude prompt, transparent investigations into the two deaths and persuade enough Nigerians living there to feel secure, or whether fear of further unrest will push more people—already numbered in the hundreds of thousands of migrants across Gauteng and other provinces—to take up the voluntary flights the Nigerian mission is preparing.
