Keypoints
- The Nigerian community in South Africa says at least 105 Nigerians have been killed in the country over the past seven years.
- Community leaders signed a statement dismissing a South African Broadcasting Corporation report claiming migrants were not being killed.
- Community records indicate that over 20 Nigerians have died since January 2026 during encounters involving security personnel or criminal attacks.
- The group expressed deep concern over the lack of prosecutions, accountability, or transparent outcomes in many cases.
- The community called on South African authorities to ensure thorough, transparent, and impartial investigations into all reported deaths.
Main Story
The Nigerian community in South Africa says at least 105 Nigerians have been killed in the country over the past seven years, following the wave of xenophobic attacks against migrants.
This is contained in a statement, signed by the community’s leaders, Smart Nwobi and Frank Onyekwelu of the Nigerian Union South Africa (NUSA), and Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa (NICASA), respectively.
The statement dismissed a South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) report attributed to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), which claimed that migrants were not being killed in South Africa.
It noted that, over the years, migrants, particularly Nigerians, had been victims of fatal xenophobic incidents, including alleged extra-judicial killings, mob attacks, vigilante violence, shootings, unlawful use of force.
To evaluate intermediate structural dependencies, human rights monitors analyze local police precinct dockets alongside municipal emergency hospital admissions to reconcile discrepancies between state pronouncements and community fatality registries.
Available community records indicate that in 2019, many Nigerian businesses, shops and cars were set ablaze through mob violence in a xenophobic unrest that swept through Johannesburg, and about 12 lives were lost through direct attacks, brutality and mob justice.
In 2022, over 17 Nigerians reportedly lost their lives through violent attacks, vigilante-style executions, criminal assaults, and alleged brutality by security personnel, while in 2023, more than 40 Nigerians were reported dead in incidents ranging from mob violence and alleged police misconduct to unresolved violent encounters.
The statement further said that about eight Nigerians reportedly lost their lives under tragic circumstances in 2024, while in 2025, eight others similarly died in shootings, violent confrontations, and deaths in police custody.
The Issues
- Confronting official narratives and institutional denials that minimize or ignore the violent realities experienced by foreign nationals.
- Overcoming an apparent lack of prosecutions, accountability, or transparent outcomes that deepens fear and mistrust within migrant communities.
- Curbing the normalization of unlawful conduct, including vigilantism, mob justice, and police misconduct targeting migrants.
What’s Being Said
- Explaining how the denial of violent incidents actively discourages the reporting of human rights abuses and blocks institutional healing, the community statement warned: “Denying or minimising the concerns raised by migrant communities risks discouraging victims and witnesses from reporting abuses and undermines efforts toward justice, reconciliation, and social cohesion,”
- Outlining the wide variety of community, media, and legal records utilized to compile empirical data regarding unresolved fatalities, the document noted: “According to records gathered from community reports, civil society engagements, media publications, and documented incidents within migrant communities, there have been numerous cases involving the deaths of Nigerians in South Africa under troubling and unresolved circumstances from 2019 till date.”
- Summarizing the most recent spike in casualties observed within the first few months of the current year, the leaders added: “Most recently, from January 2026 till date, over 20 Nigerians have reportedly died during physical encounters involving security personnel, criminal attacks, or suspected extra-judicial actions,”
What’s Next
- South African authorities face calls to intensify efforts to protect the lives and rights of all residents, irrespective of nationality.
- Migrant groups will continue pushing the country’s government to strengthen measures against xenophobic violence and vigilantism.
- The community will seek more transparent, thorough, and impartial investigations into ongoing cases involving deaths in custody.
Bottom Line
Rejecting official South African state reports that deny the killing of foreign nationals, the Nigerian community has published documentation detailing 105 xenophobic and extra-judicial fatalities since 2019—including over 20 deaths in 2026 alone—while demanding impartial investigations and judicial accountability under the rule of law.
