Nigeria asks AU to act against xenophobic attacks in South Africa
President Bola Tinubu has formally raised Nigeria’s concerns over recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other foreign nationals in South Africa, urging the African Union to take collective action.
Tinubu made the request through Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented him at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Luanda, Angola, on Sunday.
Nigeria called for the issue to be placed on the agenda of the 40th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly scheduled for January 2027, where African leaders could consider an appropriate continental response.
Tinubu acknowledged South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws and recognised its contribution to the continent. But he said attacks targeting Africans undermine African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence and require urgent collective attention.
The Nigerian president also called for stronger continental efforts against xenophobia and Afrophobia, including dialogue, preventive diplomacy and collective action to protect the safety, dignity and rights of Africans across national borders.
The intervention comes against a long-running backdrop of tensions surrounding migrants in South Africa, where Nigerians and other African nationals have at various times faced attacks, threats and hostility from groups blaming foreigners for issues including unemployment, crime and pressure on public services.
For Nigeria, the issue carries particular diplomatic weight because of the historically close relationship between the two countries. Nigeria played a significant role in opposing apartheid and supporting the struggle for South Africa’s liberation.
Tinubu’s appeal therefore places the issue beyond a bilateral Nigeria-South Africa dispute and before the continent’s principal political body — raising the question of whether the AU can develop a coordinated response to xenophobia while respecting individual countries’ authority over immigration and law enforcement.
