Nigeria Evacuates 1,490 Citizens, All Eyes on AU to Hold South Africa Accountable

President Bola Tinubu’s decision to take South Africa’s recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks to the African Union has been hailed as overdue diplomatic action.

With over 178,000 African immigrants reportedly displaced, 90 Nigerians killed since 2022, and more than 1,490 Nigerians evacuated, the continent is demanding accountability from Pretoria.

A Diplomatic Escalation

Speaking at the AU’s 21st Extraordinary Session in Luanda, Vice President Kashim Shettima called for collective action against Xenophobic and Afrophobic actions in South Africa and urged that the matter be placed on the agenda of the January 2027 General Assembly.

And that’s very right, the diplomatic escalation is long overdue.

The Ugly Contradiction

South Africa’s latest wave of anti-immigrant violence has exposed an ugly contradiction in the continent’s post-apartheid story.

Protests and mob actions targeting African migrants have spread amid a crackdown on undocumented immigration.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mozambique reported five of its citizens killed as a direct consequence of the violence, while Ghana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Lesotho and others have recorded departures or repatriations.

More than 178,000 African immigrants have reportedly left or been deported from South Africa in recent months.

Nigeria’s Heavy Toll

Nigeria has borne a particularly heavy burden. The country had evacuated 1,490 citizens by July, with another 83 returnees arriving in August.

Nigerian authorities have also said 90 Nigerians have been killed in xenophobic attacks in South Africa since 2022.

The Failure of the South African State

The distinction between enforcing immigration law and permitting Afrophobic violence must be absolute.

A sovereign state has every right to identify, prosecute and deport undocumented immigrants through due process.

What it cannot legitimately do is allow mobs to become an unofficial immigration service, terrorising, looting, assaulting and killing people because they are foreigners.

That is where Pretoria’s response deserves the strongest scrutiny. The failure to deploy the machinery of law enforcement and governance quickly enough to protect vulnerable foreign nationals has left a disturbing impression of official collusion.

South Africa cannot condemn mob violence in principle while permitting African immigrants and businesses to remain exposed to it.

The AU’s Responsibility

The AU must now go beyond expressions of concern.

Africa remembers that the liberation of South Africa from apartheid was a collective continental project, sustained through enormous sacrifices, diplomatic pressures, resources and lives.

That history gives the AU a moral authority to demand respect for Africans in South Africa.

The AU should:

· Investigate the attacks independently

· Condemn Afrophobic xenophobia unequivocally

· Impose appropriate continental penalties, including mechanisms for full compensation for lives lost, property destroyed and businesses ruined

A Double Lesson

This should teach other African governments a double lesson: protect African foreigners while managing undocumented migration lawfully.

The European Union demonstrates that strong common rules can make attacks on fellow Europeans almost unthinkable.

The romanticisation of Africa must move beyond slogans, musical fantasies and sentimental speeches.

Pan-Africanism means respecting the rights and dignity of fellow Africans everywhere on the continent.

If the AU cannot guarantee that principle, it risks losing its relevance.

South Africa must be held accountable, and the continent must prove that African solidarity is more than mere rhetoric.

A Lesson for Nigerian Youths

The Afrophobia crisis is a reminder that the dream of African unity remains unfinished.

The same South Africa that was liberated through continental solidarity is now turning its back on fellow Africans.

The same politicians who preach Pan-Africanism will never allow their own children to be victims of xenophobia. Their families are protected.

For young Nigerians, the lesson is clear: African unity must be more than rhetoric. The continent cannot afford to tolerate the mistreatment of its citizens anywhere. The same leaders who ignore Afrophobia will never allow their own children to be displaced from their homes.

Demand continental accountability. Support Pan-African solidarity. And never forget that our freedom is intertwined.