Keypoints:
- Nigeria suspends official South Africa visits
- Boycott includes virtual legislative engagements
- Lawmakers demand protection for Nigerians
NIGERIA’S National Assembly has suspended all official visits to South Africa and ordered a boycott of South African-hosted legislative engagements over continuing attacks on Nigerians and other African migrants.
The move marks a sharp escalation in parliamentary pressure on Pretoria without amounting to a break in diplomatic relations. Nigerian lawmakers say repeated reports of killings, injuries, displacement and attacks on businesses demand stronger action to protect citizens living and working in South Africa.
Parliament suspends engagements
The suspension followed consultations between the leadership of Nigeria’s Senate and House of Representatives and will remain in force until further notice.
Clerk to the National Assembly Kamoru Ogunlana said lawmakers were concerned by reports that Nigerians had been killed, injured, displaced or forced to abandon businesses, investments and homes.
The measure applies to lawmakers, parliamentary committees, officials and staff travelling to South Africa on official business.
It also covers conferences, seminars, workshops, parliamentary meetings and legislative exchanges organised or hosted by South African legislative authorities. Virtual and online participation is included.
The National Assembly stressed that the action was not intended to undermine longstanding diplomatic and people-to-people relations between Nigeria and South Africa.
Instead, lawmakers described it as an expression of concern over the ‘safety, dignity and welfare’ of Nigerians living and conducting legitimate business in the country.
Lawmakers demand prosecutions
The National Assembly called on South African authorities to investigate reported attacks, arrest suspects and prosecute those responsible.
It also demanded stronger protection for Nigerians and other African nationals.
The intervention follows months of anti-migrant mobilisation and violence in South Africa, which has triggered protests, repatriations and growing pressure from governments elsewhere on the continent.
Tensions intensified after private anti-migrant formations promoted a June 30 deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave South Africa.
That deadline was not government policy.
South African authorities declared June 30 a normal working day and warned that immigration enforcement remained the responsibility of the state.
Pretoria rejects vigilantism
In an official migration statement, Pretoria said unauthorised people could not demand proof of nationality, block access to hospitals, clinics or schools, or intimidate foreign nationals.
The government said violence and intimidation would be prosecuted and warned against xenophobia, Afrophobia and other forms of intolerance.
Authorities also reported that, as of June 21, 164 people had been arrested over 89 incidents involving public-order offences and incitement, with 36 cases already before the courts.
That enforcement response has not stopped the issue from developing into a wider continental dispute.
Ghana has already pressed the African Union to confront xenophobic violence, arguing that attacks on African nationals threaten continental solidarity and integration.
Pressure spreads beyond Nigeria
Nigeria’s parliamentary boycott adds another layer of institutional pressure.
Rather than limiting its response to condemnation, the National Assembly has attached a direct consequence to the dispute by withdrawing from official South African-hosted legislative activities.
It has also urged Nigeria’s 36 State Houses of Assembly to consider similar measures.
The move does not constitute sanctions imposed by President Bola Tinubu’s government and does not suspend formal diplomatic relations.
But it raises the political cost for Pretoria as regional governments increasingly question whether South Africa is doing enough to protect foreign nationals.
The crisis has also attracted legal scrutiny. As Africa Briefing reported, two Ghanaian nationals have petitioned the International Criminal Court to examine allegations surrounding repeated attacks on migrants. The filing has not resulted in an ICC investigation.
Relations face fresh strain
Nigeria and South Africa are among Africa’s most influential political and economic powers, making sustained tensions between them significant beyond their bilateral relationship.
Both governments champion African integration, regional commerce and greater movement across the continent.
Recurring attacks on African migrants, however, sit uneasily with those ambitions.
For Pretoria, the challenge is now as diplomatic as it is domestic: enforce immigration laws while preventing vigilante groups from assuming powers reserved for the state.
For Abuja, the parliamentary suspension signals that attacks on Nigerians can now produce consequences for official engagement.
Whether the boycott is eventually lifted is likely to depend on whether Nigerian lawmakers are satisfied that South African authorities are preventing further attacks, protecting foreign nationals and ensuring that those responsible for violence face prosecution.
