President Bola Tinubu on Monday declined to meet the South African envoy sent by its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, over the ongoing xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
According to reports, the President directed the visiting delegation to instead meet with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, who was appointed as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in June 2026.
Speaking while receiving the South African delegation, Enikanolaiye said, “It is with profound pleasure that I welcome our brothers from South Africa. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had actually asked us to meet with you and exchange views and perspectives on how to address and resolve the ongoing Afrophobic attacks in South Africa, of which Nigerians and other citizens of Africa have been victims.
“We have seen a pattern emerge as early as 1995, 1998, 2006, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2026. It is on record that from 2022 alone, 98 Nigerians have died in mob actions, in hate-related actions that we have called Afrophobia, because we found that the preponderant victims of this ugly situation are Africans and Nigerians in particular.”
This development is following xenophobic attacks against other African nationals in South Africa, most especially Nigerians, which resulted in the recent evacuation of almost 600 Nigerians back home.
