Human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has urged the Nigerian Government to cease paying lip service to the safety of Nigerians living in South Africa and take concrete steps to guarantee their safety.
Ejiofor in a statement on Saturday said Nigeria should aggressively explore every legitimate diplomatic and legal options available to ensure Nigerians living in South Africa are not harmed.
This comes after xenophobic attacks on foreigners living in South Africa, which has seen several countries evacuate their citizens from the troubled country, while some lives have reportedly been lost.
He urged the federal government to demand credible investigations and prosecutions, insist on concrete guarantees for the safety of Nigerians living in South Africa and cooperate with regional and continental institutions to ensure that xenophobic violence becomes an accepted feature of African coexistence.
In his statement upon his release he said, “The life of every Nigerian is invaluable. Our citizens’ blood must never be cheaper than diplomatic courtesies.
“A sovereign state owes its citizens more than sympathy, it owes them protection and justice,” he said.
He noted that the recent diplomatic spat between Ghana and South Africa over the reported killing of Ghanaian national, Bashiru Isak, allegedly shot dead in Khayelitsha, Cape Town on June 30, 2026, provides a profound lesson in what responsive statecraft should look like.
Ejiofor said the Government of Ghana did not make routine expressions of concern but condemned the killing in no uncertain terms as part of the disturbing resurgence of xenophobic violence against African migrants in South Africa.
He said the Ghanaian Government called for an immediate, transparent and thorough investigation, the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators and better protection for Ghanaian nationals living in South Africa.