FG demands AU action over S’Africa attacks

Nigeria has taken complaints about recurring attacks in South Africa to the African Union, asking the continental body to treat the issue as more than a bilateral concern.

President Bola Tinubu delivered the message at an extraordinary AU Assembly session in Luanda, Angola, through Vice President Kashim Shettima. He said the attacks against Africans and other nationals in South Africa damaged the principles of solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence.

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Nigeria wishes to express its concern over the recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other nationals in South Africa.

“Nigeria wishes to express its concern over the recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other nationals in South Africa,” Tinubu said. He acknowledged South Africa’s right to enforce its immigration laws, while calling for urgent collective attention to the attacks.

Nigeria formally requested that the matter be placed on the agenda of the AU’s 40th Ordinary Session, scheduled for January 2027. Tinubu called for stronger continental efforts against xenophobia and Afrophobia, with dialogue, preventive diplomacy and collective action presented as the preferred tools.

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While recognising South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws and acknowledging its contributions to the continent, Nigeria stresses that such attacks undermine African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence, and require urgent collective attention.

He also supported adoption of the Luanda Action Plan as a roadmap for conflict prevention across Africa. “For Nigeria, conflict prevention remains more cost-effective and sustainable than conflict management,” he said.

Tinubu warned that fragmented peace initiatives and growing reliance on foreign military forces, mercenaries and private defence contractors could weaken African institutions and the principle of African ownership. He called on AU members to renew their shared responsibility for the continent’s peace and security.

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For Nigeria, conflict prevention remains more cost-effective and sustainable than conflict management.