Xenophobia in S’Africa: Tinubu snubs Ramaphosa’s envoy

•As FG demands early warnings pact ratification

 •Pretoria launches investigation into death of Nigerian

By Nkiruka Nnorom 

President Bola Tinubu has declined to receive a special envoy dispatched by South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, Vanguard can authoritatively report.

The development came amid growing concerns over persistent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

Sources familiar with the matter, who spoke exclusively with Vanguard yesterday, said the South African delegation, led by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, arrived Abuja on Friday, July 24, with what was described to Nigerian officials as a “very important message” for the Nigerian leader.

The diplomatic snub comes less than 24 hours after the reported killing of a Nigerian national, Chika Ibe, who was allegedly picked up from his residence at Parksig Villas Complex in Bellville, Cape Town, and tortured to death by personnel of the South African Police Service, SAPS, according to a footage obtained by Vanguard from Nigerian community in South Africa.

Diplomatic sources disclosed that Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, advised the Presidency that it was not an appropriate time for President Tinubu to receive the South African envoy and members of his delegation.

According to the sources, the minister cited the continued attacks on Nigerians, their businesses and properties in South Africa as reason for the advice.

The foreign affairs minister stressed that the South African delegation could not be granted an audience with the President without a prior appointment and concrete commitments from Pretoria.

She was said to have insisted that South Africa must first show concrete commitments and present a signed copy of the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, on the Early Warning Mechanism, EWM, which both countries signed in Abuja on October 22 last year, before further diplomatic engagement could proceed.

South Africa has reportedly failed to ratify the agreement, citing what Nigerian officials described as “inadequate reasons.”

The Early Warning Mechanism was designed to strengthen cooperation between both countries in monitoring threats of violence, protecting citizens and addressing consular matters. 

It also provides for rapid communication channels to de-escalate security risks involving foreign nationals and to prevent criminal acts, reprisals and xenophobic attacks against citizens of either country.

Ministry officials noted that the framework would have facilitated compensation claims for Nigerians whose businesses and properties were destroyed during xenophobic attacks in South Africa. 

However, South African authorities have so far declined to compensate victims, insisting that legally owned properties were officially registered with relevant authorities and could be sold through the country’s property market, while structures in informal settlements were illegal and, therefore, not recognised as legitimate property.

At press time yesterday, Presidency sources said President Tinubu had yet to agree to meet the South African envoy.

The sources added that the outcome of a telephone conversation reportedly initiated by President Ramaphosa over the weekend also remained unclear.

Nigeria has maintained a firm stance against xenophobic attacks in South Africa. 

At the 69th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in Lungi, Sierra Leone, recently, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, who represented President Tinubu, condemned the attacks and pledged that Nigeria would push for stronger measures against xenophobia at the African Union.

Speaking on the recurring Afrophobic attacks, Shettima called for a united continental response to protect the rights and dignity of Africans living across the continent. 

He told the ECOWAS gathering that the federal government had evacuated 1,490 Nigerians affected by xenophobic violence and reaffirmed Abuja’s commitment to working with regional and continental institutions to address the crisis.

Pretoria launches investigation into death of Nigerian

Meanwhile, the South African authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the Nigerian, Chika Ibe, who they claimed collapsed while being arrested by police in Cape Town.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate, IPID, the body responsible for overseeing police conduct, claimed that initial post-mortem result showed that Ibeh, 42, sustained multiple bruises and abrasions on his back and chest.

The Western Cape police in a statement also claimed that Ibe died after becoming unwell while officers attempted to arrest him during an operation.

Police spokesperson, Col Andre Traut, said officers had been conducting a search at a residence in Cape Town when they discovered an unlicensed firearm and suspected drugs.

However, a video footage obtained by Vanguard contradicted Pretoria’s account. 

The footage showed the moment Ibe, who had already sustained injury from rubber bullet, was shot by a South African police, who was standing guard with other officers.

The incident, which happened on Thursday, July 23, had sparked outrage within the Nigerian community, with Nigerians clustering around the scene protesting against the killing.

A man speaking in Igbo was heard in the video lamenting the killing.

“The police has just killed someone now; the police has just killed someone now.  People need to come to Parksig Villa, Bellville, Cape Town. They can’t be treating us like animal and be using guns on us. We need to end it once and for all,’’ he lamented.

Speaking to BBC, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, described the incident as “a very unfortunate situation”.

South Africa’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration also confirmed during a public briefing that the matter was under investigation.

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