Connect with us

Foreign News

Xenophobic: ‘We’ve Drawn The Red Line Against South Africa’

Published

on

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama (m), Minister of State, Amb Zubairu Dada, Permamanent Secretary, Amb Mustapha Suleiman
Share

  • Says It’s Unacceptable, Enough Is Enough
  • Asks Nigerians Not to Retaliate 

By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

Nigerian Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama has warned the South African government against any form of xenophobic attacks on Nigerian citizens in the south coast country.

The minister also confirmed that Nigeria has boycotted the World Economic Forum scheduled for South Africa taking place on September 4-6.

Onyeama gave the warning on Wesnesday while speaking to State House correspondents after he met with President Muhammadu Bubari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said that President Buhari agreed with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo not to go to South Africa under the climate of xenophobic attacks.

The minister stressed that red line has been drawn against South Africa, warning ”enough is enough. We can’t allow any of our city to be killed in South Africa and we demand full compensation for their properties destroyed in South Africa.”

He said that recalling of Nigerian ambassador to South Africa, was one of the options the government would use in resolving the issue.

He added that the final decision will be taken after the report of the special envoy sent to South Africa.

The minister while giving an update on the xenophobic attacks said: “We have made it clear that what has happened in South Africa is totally unacceptable. 

”We will not accept it and as I said earlier, enough is enough and we are not going to come back to this, we are going to address it once and for all. 

”This is the position of government that we are going to draw a redline here. Whatever measures that needs to be taken to ensure the safety of Nigerians in South Africa, we will take. 

“We have been in touch with the South African government at the very highest level with the President of South Africa as to what we want to achieve. The special envoy has very clear directives about the commitment and the guarantees that we expect from the South African government.

”Of course, a lot of things have been circulating in the social media which have not helped matters. Some of them have really distorted the situation and because of that have impacted our response.

”So, number one is that the information we have from the High Commission, from the Consul General in South Africa is that no Nigerian life has been lost during this crisis. And I think that is very important because on social media, there is a lot of stories going around of Nigerians being killed, jumping off buildings and being burnt. This is not the case.

”What we know is that premises, shops of Nigerians have been looted and property destroyed.

Confirming the withdrawal of Nigeria’s participation in the World Economic Forum in South Africa, he said that the Vice President was scheduled to go to South Africa tomorrow (Thursday) to attend the World Economic Forum, ”clearly with this climate, he and Mr. President have agreed that he should not go to the World Economic Forum in Cape town and we are looking at other measures to take.”

He said that Mr. President was particularly disturbed at the act of vandalism that has taken place here in Nigeria, in retaliation of what is happening in South Africa.

Onyeama stressed that the government believes that they have to take the moral high ground on this matter. 

”We are victims here and have made that position clear to the international community and to the South African government. We here in Nigeria must not fall into the temptation of also resorting to the acts that we are condemning in others.

”Mr. President has pleaded and he is likely to make a statement on this, addressing the Nigerian people to please desist from acts of vandalism and aggression, destroying properties.”

The Federal govgovern appealed to Nigerians back home to remain calm, warning against taking attacking south African businesses in Nigeria.

He said that ”these businesses- Shoprite, MTN and others, yes there are South African but these are subsidiaries in Nigeria owned by Nigerians. So, as attacks are made against Shoprite and other such institutions, it is actually the property owned by Nigerians within Nigeria and the people working there are Nigerians.”

”So the people that will suffer from those acts of vandalism and aggression are not South Africans or anyone else but Nigerians. But morally, it is wrong not even because of who will suffer and not suffer. 

Mr. President is appealing to Nigerians, the  government is acting, we cannot state everything, our everything in public domain with regards to what we are doing obviously, but we want to assure all Nigerians that this government is determined that the redline has been drawn and we will not give in on this occasion and that the South African government has to assumed its responsibilities and do the right thing. Protect Nigerians and other Africans I might say in South Africa and we have to hold them to count. Full compensation has to be paid because as we have discovered from previous experience, a lot of these Nigerians loss their property and it is a long drawn out process and every often are not compensated for it.  But on this occasion, the Nigerian government is going to fight for full compensation and hold the government of South Africa to count. And we are going to consider other options to ensure that the message gets across to the government of South Africa.

It is not a question of weakness or anything of the sort but we have to move decisively and that is precisely what the government is going to do. 

We have all the options on the table and on the return of the special envoy, we will all sit down and look at all the options and assess the report.

And there is no measure that we consider to be appropriate that we will shrink from taking. We will take whatever and all measures necessary to ensure that never again are we going back to this whole issue of Nigerians being attacked and properties destroyed and in some cases killed in South Africa.

It is an ongoing story, we will keep you informed but the important message is that Mr. President is fully engaged in this process, he is being briefed on an hourly basis and we are not going to shrink from taking all the necessary steps to make it the last time this kind of thing will happen.”

Asked to disclose the identity of the envoy and measures being taken to protect Nigerians, Onyeama said: “the identify of the special envoy will be revealed in due course. There are certain reasons why we don’t want to do so immediately. 

“On measures being taken, of course the security agencies are fully aware of the threats that are now existing to various businesses in Nigeria at the moment and they are fully mobilized to address that.”

On if the bone of contention has been established, he said: our basic premise is this, there is no justification whatsoever for individuals or coming as a group to take the laws into their own hands and to target Nigerians. This is totally unacceptable.

He added: ”It is important to note that there is now an African consensus building around this, it is totally abhorrent and unacceptable that there should be xenophobia against Africans on African soil, not to talk about what a Nigeria has done for South Africa, even everybody knows that during the years of apartheid but nevertheless we understand that the president of Rwanda will not attend the world economic forum, the president of Democratic Republic of Congo, the president of Malawi, the Zambian football team that were supposed to play in South Africa also stepped down that match and is not going ahead with it. And so is the African Union, the president of the African Union has also come out with a statement condemning what is happening in South Africa. A large number of victims are Nigerians and we will not tolerate it.”

On why the Nigerian High commissioner has been recalled when the envoy was on his way to South Africa, he said: “No. it is one of the options we are considering. He will need to come back but we feel he should come back after the envoy has gone there, so that Mr. President will also have the benefits of the full and comprehensive brief from all the individuals who are the position to have seen things at a close range.”

Foreign News

Horrors Must Never be Repeated, Says UN Chief

Published

on

Share

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Monday called for a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians ahead of the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by the militant organisation Hamas on Israel.

“Let this anniversary mark not only another year of mourning, but also a renewed determination to build a different future,” Guterres said in New York.

He said Israelis and Palestinians should be able to “live side by side in peace and security, with their rights, dignity, and aspirations fulfilled.
“These horrors must never be repeated, “He added.On October 7, 2023, Hamas and other armed groups killed more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and abducted 251 people to Gaza.

The ‌‍‍‍⁠⁠‍‍‌⁠‍‍‌attacks triggered the Gaza war, in which more than 74,000 Palestinians have since been killed, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza.

A ceasefire has been in place since October 2025, although deadly attacks have continued.

Relations between the Israeli government and the United Nations remain deeply strained, with Israel accusing Guterres of bias and the UN chief repeatedly criticising Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

Guterres also paid tribute to the victims of the Oct. 7 attacks.

“Nothing can justify these atrocities,” he said.

“Their suffering, and the enduring grief of their families, must never be forgotten.”

The UN chief also highlighted the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza following the war.

“Their suffering, too, demands an end, now,” he said.

Guterres said the ceasefire had brought some relief but had yet to deliver security, adequate humanitarian assistance or a credible path to recovery and peace.

He urged all sides to fully implement their commitments and move to the next phase of the ceasefire.

“It is time for the ceasefire to become permanent. It is time to allow humanitarian assistance at scale.

“And it is time to respect international law,” he said.

“We must build the political path to lasting peace across the whole region.” 

Continue Reading

Foreign News

Kenya Confirms its First Ebola Death as Outbreak Spreads

Published

on

Share

Kenya has confirmed its first case of Ebola, a Kenyan citizen who has been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the past seven years.

Health Minister Aden Duale said the patient, who fell ill a month ago, and was treated in several hospitals in DR Congo, died days after arriving in Nairobi.

Duale said the patient boarded a flight on Saturday and underwent normal public screening at the main airport in Nairobi before he was transferred by a relative to a hospital in the city.

More than 4,000 people have died from Ebola in DR Congo this year, in what is the second most deadly known outbreak of the disease.

Shortly after DR Congo declared an outbreak of Ebola in May, it was also reported in Uganda, where two people have died. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the county free of the disease in August.

Since then, all cases of the disease have been declared in DR Congo.

The current outbreak has been caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which is relatively rare, with no known vaccine.

Duale confirmed that the Kenyan national had tested positive for the Bundibugyo species.

According to the minister, the patient first travelled by road from DR Congo to the Ugandan capital Kampala, where he boarded a flight to Nairobi

Duale said that after being taken to the Nairobi Hospital, the patient was transferred to an isolation facility which was built during the Covid-19.

It was there that the patient “developed fever, chills, intense fatigue and weakness, painful swallowing, muscle pain and bleeding under the skin”.

The patient died at 23:30 (20:30 GMT) on Monday and his burial is planned for later on Tuesday in line with public health safety protocols.

At least 28 contacts, including family members and healthcare workers, have been identified, while health authorities are tracing a further 23 passengers and four crew members who travelled on the same flight.

So far, WHO has recorded 4,082 deaths out of 8,463 cases since the emergence of the Bundibugyo species of the virus.

There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the species, which is highly infectious.

Continue Reading

Foreign News

Trump Escalates Media Fight after Week of Setbacks

Published

on

Share

President Donald Trump has infused his ongoing feud with the White House press with a new level of acrimony.

Journalists from three major media outlets – CNN, Politico and MS Now – were denied access and had their press credentials confiscated on Saturday morning as they attempted to enter the White House grounds for work.

As media watchdog organisations and the White House Correspondents Association cry foul, Trump appears set to press ahead with a sweeping effort to punish these outlets.

In his Truth Social post announcing his decision on Friday, he said he was “banning” the organisations because “of their constant ‘reporting’ of fake news”.

In remarks later that day, he complained that “something is wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories”.

“If they want to write them, that’s fine,” he continued. “I don’t have to let them into the people’s house”, he said, referring to the White House.

The president’s frustration at the media, however, came after a week of setbacks in which major institutions handed him a series of losses across his agenda.

First, the Supreme Court blocked his plan to restrict mail-in voting ahead of the midterms. This prompted Trump to lash out at the court’s justices including those he had appointed. “These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court,” he said.

The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, then raised interest rates after Trump had spent months arguing they should be cut. This was followed by a judge ordering his administration to give 30 days’ notice before making any changes to the Kennedy Center arts venue in Washington DC after the president warned it could be “ripped down”.

These headlines, combined with approval ratings that recently sunk to record lows for his second term, suggest Trump is facing challenging political headwinds.

His latest attack on the press, however, raises clear legal questions.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution forbids Congress from “abridging” the freedom of the press. It is language that courts have long interpreted as preventing the government from discriminating against the media based on the content of their coverage.

All three targeted news outlets have promised to file lawsuits challenging Trump’s decision.

Although the breadth of this move is unprecedented, it is far from the first time the Trump administration has attempted to limit or deny access to the White House to members of mainstream media outlets.

In his first term, the administration revoked CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials, setting off a legal battle that was ultimately resolved in the journalist’s favour. It also temporarily suspended the pass of a reporter who had a heated argument with White House adviser Sebastian Gorka – a move that also was subsequently blocked by the courts.

Last year, the White House banned reporters for the Associated Press from participating in the president’s press pool – which allows media outlets access to smaller in-town and travelling presidential appearances – because the newswire service would not follow Trump’s move to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

That dispute also led to a protracted – and yet to be fully resolved – legal battle, prompting the White House to change press pool rules to drop the guaranteed spot for all wire services.

The White House bans, however, represent a dramatic escalation.

The restrictions include access to the entirety of the White House grounds, not just the press pool. And they target entire news organisations, not just a single disfavoured correspondent.

While Trump has been clear about the motives behind his decision, he has shed little light on why he has acted now. He has regularly criticised his press coverage since he first entered national politics more than a decade ago, but he said on Friday there was no specific incident that prompted his announcement.

At the moment, however, the president is embattled.

Even beyond the week of clear setbacks, he is in the midst of an unpopular and difficult-to-resolve war of choice in Iran, which has led to a surge in energy and other consumer prices, deflating his standing with the American public.

Polls also suggest his party faces an uphill battle to retain control of the House of Representatives and perhaps the Senate in November’s crucial midterm congressional elections.

His attempts to improve the public’s mood by touting his accomplishments in campaign events and at his Republican Party’s convention earlier this month in Texas have, at least so far, proven ineffective.

There may be more behind Trump’s decision to lash out at the media this weekend. But it could also simply be an indication of presidential frustration in the face of events and circumstances, some of his own making, that are turning against him.

Continue Reading

Advertisement

Top Stories

NEWS2 days ago

ASUSS Opposes NUT Strike in FCT, Urges Teachers to Ignore Stay-at-home Directive

ShareBy Laide Akinboade, Abuja The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chapter, has dissociated itself...

NEWS2 days ago

Edo Varsity Lecturer Dies after Sex Romp in Hotel

ShareA senior lecturer at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in Edo State, Dr. Matthew Uwuigbe, has died under mysterious circumstances...

NEWS2 days ago

Over 84 Per Cent Nigerians willing to Vote During 2027 Elections – Yiaga

ShareYiaga Africa said 84 per cent of Nigerians intend to vote during the 2027 general elections, urging political parties to...

NEWS2 days ago

PNC 2026: NCDMB, DMG Affirm Collaboration with Bayelsa, Unveil New Activities

ShareFrom Mike Tayese, Yenagoa As preparations intensify for the 2026 edition of the Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum, slated for...

view point2 days ago

Tinubu’s $700 Billion Mineral Resources Deal With America at Whose Interest?

ShareBy Hajia Hadiza Mohammed For some time now the hottest issue of debate in the Nigeria media space has been...

POLITICS2 days ago

Atiku’s Production Subsidy: Has politics overtaken economics?

ShareBy Kayode Oladele Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, (ADC),...

NEWS2 days ago

2027: Governors’ Backing Boosts Tinubu’s Chances, says Presidency 

ShareBy Tambaya Julius, Abuja The Presidency has said the growing number of governors backing President Bola Tinubu has strengthened his...

NEWS2 days ago

Security Operatives Rescue 20 Abducted NYSC Members in Imo

ShareBy Tambaya Julius, Abuja  Security operatives have rescued 20 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who were abducted...

NEWS2 days ago

Nigeria’s Oil Reforms will Unlock $50bn Deep Offshore Investments – Tinubu

SharePresident Bola Tinubu said recent reforms in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector are designed to unlock up to 50 billion...

NEWS2 days ago

Ododo Condoles Families of NAF Personnel, Armed Forces Over Ondo Crash

ShareFrom Joseph Amedu, Lokoja Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Ododo has commiserated with the families of the Nigerian Air Force personnel...