Nigeria's Parliament Suspends All Official Visits to South Africa

Nigeria's National Assembly on Friday indefinitely suspended official visits to South Africa, even virtual ones, in protest over anti-migrant violence targeting Nigerians.

Nigeria's National Assembly announced on Friday that it is suspending all official visits to South Africa indefinitely, in protest over anti-immigrant protests and violence targeting other Africans, including Nigerian citizens. "All official visits to the Republic of South Africa by the National Assembly, its Committees, lawmakers, officials and staff are hereby suspended," said Akin Rotimi, spokesman for the lower chamber. The ban extends even to virtual engagements, according to Al Jazeera, an unusual step that signals how seriously Abuja views the deterioration.

Parliamentary boycotts of another country's officials are an uncommon diplomatic instrument, and the indefinite, no-exceptions scope of this one — covering committees, staff and even online meetings — goes beyond routine diplomatic protest. The move is a "strong expression" of concern over the safety and welfare of Nigerians living and doing legitimate business in South Africa, said Kamoru Ogunlana, clerk to the National Assembly.

At a July meeting in Abuja, Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, said at least 98 Nigerians had been killed since 2022 in mob attacks, hate-related violence and extrajudicial killings. In June, two Nigerians were killed during anti-migrant violence just two days before a deadline protesters had set for foreigners to leave; Nigeria's foreign ministry said one was allegedly killed by police officers and the other by unidentified attackers. Ogunlana said parliament was "particularly concerned by reports of Nigerians being killed, injured, displaced and forced to abandon their businesses, investments, homes and other properties."

Anti-foreigner protests erupted across South Africa earlier this year, and in some cases protesters have gone door-to-door, dragged people from their homes and delivered them to waiting police vans — with even people holding legal documents caught up in the violence, Al Jazeera reports. In one incident last week in Durban, marchers descended on an encampment of Congolese nationals, causing violent clashes. South Africa's government says almost 90,000 people have been voluntarily repatriated or deported since the tensions began, while governments of migrants' home countries put the total at about 178,000 — a figure both outlets present side by side rather than reconcile.

South Africa, one of the continent's most industrialised economies, has long attracted documented and undocumented immigrants from across Africa, including many Nigerians drawn by its relative wealth and opportunity. But the country also struggles with high unemployment, weak social services and high crime, which protesters increasingly blame on migrants despite decades of government failures, analysts note in Al Jazeera's reporting. That economic squeeze has made foreigners a recurring scapegoat, producing sporadic outbursts of xenophobic violence that now carry real diplomatic costs for Pretoria.

The suspension is indefinite, meaning parliamentary engagement with Pretoria stays frozen until Nigeria sees meaningful action on the safety of its nationals. Separate from the political crisis, South African police said Friday that six Nigerian nationals accused of defrauding more than 100 American women of over $6 million in romance scams were extradited to the United States, per CBS News, underscoring the complicated backdrop to the bilateral relationship.