Nigeria’s foreign ministry reported that two of its citizens were killed in South Africa during a surge in anti-migrant violence. One man was killed in front of his shop in the northeastern city of eMalahleni by unidentified criminals. Another man, Emeka Iroegbu, was killed by police officers in Pretoria during an interrogation.
South Africa’s Independent Police Investigative Directorate is investigating the report. The country deployed its army to bolster security during the protests, which were mostly peaceful but at times turned violent. Vigilantes have attacked foreign nationals and looted foreign-owned shops on numerous occasions in the last few months, as South Africans blame immigrants for problems such as crime and unemployment.
Nigeria’s foreign ministry threatened to take unspecified action if authorities did not address the situation. The ministry stated that the continuing pattern of such incidents is clearly evidence of complicity on the part of security operatives, which raises the question of state responsibility under international law.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
