The President of the Nigerian Union, South Africa, and lawyer, Dr. Smart Nwobi, has said a second batch of stranded Nigerians has been evacuated from South Africa as concerns grow over the fate of many others still stranded at the Nigerian mission in Pretoria ahead of a June 30 deadline issued by anti-migrant groups for foreigners to leave the country.
Recall that Dr. Nwobi had earlier raised concerns over the plight of more than 1,000 Nigerians awaiting evacuation from South Africa on ARISE NEWS on Monday, saying many had been left stranded, displaced and without shelter due to delays in the evacuation process.
However, in a turn of events, Dr. Nwobi has confirmed that a second batch of stranded Nigerians has been evacuated from South Africa and hailed the Federal Government of Nigeria for fulfilling its promise to commence the evacuation process, even as many others remain stranded at the Nigerian mission in Pretoria ahead of the deadline issued by anti-migrant groups for foreigners to leave the country.
“Yes, our citizens, the second batch officially, has taken some of the stranded Nigerians from Pretoria this evening. Some of the clips of the bus taking some of the already screened Nigerians from Pretoria to the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg took off earlier this evening. And there are still a large number of Nigerians still stranded at the Nigerian embassy, taking into account that tomorrow is the deadline given by the anti-foreign migrants group. That is the deadline for people to leave the country.
“We are very appreciative of the effort of the Federal Government for living up to the promise. And we’ve been promised on or before the 30th by the Foreign Affairs Minister—and the same message or promise was re-echoed by the Acting High Commission here in Pretoria—that the Federal Government has spoken through the relevant authorities that on or before the 30th of June 2026, the stranded Nigerians will be airlifted from South Africa, especially those who have volunteered to return home safely,” he said.
Speaking further, Dr Nwobi alleged that anti-foreign sentiment has become a political tool in South Africa, with some political actors exploiting the vulnerability of African migrants to gain popularity and electoral support through anti-immigration campaigns.
“Without mincing words, in South Africa, one of the political tools for the upcoming political—maybe the new political actors—is for them to take advantage of the vulnerability of African migrants, especially for them to be popular and come into the limelight. We’ve seen that happen in different sectors,” he alleged.
“That has been the trend in South Africa, and most political parties, including the ruling party, initially were not forthcoming in order to dislodge these anti-foreign campaigns because of the fear that they would lose elections. So, basically, it is a norm within the South African space and within the South African political space: if you want to be popular, if you want the locals to vote for you, you should be able to stand against anything foreign migrant, especially black foreign migrants who are seen to be taking the jobs of ordinary South Africans,” he added.
Nwobi also linked the recent killing of a Nigerian man in Witbank to the ongoing anti-foreign migrant campaign, alleging that repeated xenophobic attacks and police brutality have been fuelled by a lack of accountability for perpetrators of similar crimes.
“Yes, it is attributed to the anti-foreign migrant campaign. We have seen a series of police brutality which was emboldened as a result of no accountability; no consequences were dished out to those who are the perpetrators of this crime. Yes, the guy that was shot dead at these premises—a shop in Witbank—is a result of a xenophobic attack. Yes, it is attributed—not ‘can be’ attributed—because the reason for that is that foreign lives do not matter, Nigerian lives do not matter in South Africa. This is because previous perpetrators of this kind of heinous crime were not brought to book,” he stated.
He further claimed that the Nigerian Union in South Africa had documented several cases of Nigerians killed in xenophobic attacks and reported them through the Nigerian High Commission and the Consulate General, but lamented the absence of prosecutions and deterrent sentences against those responsible.
“We have a list of Nigerians who have been killed as a result of xenophobic attacks and afrophobic tendencies, which we have reported to the authorities through our Nigerian High Commission as well as the Consul General. But to date, we have not recorded any tangible prosecutions in court, nor deterrent sentences that can stop this kind of occurrence,” he said.
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