Nigeria’s patience with xenophobic attacks in South Africa has run out. Its lawmakers want Pretoria to notice.
The National Assembly announced on Friday that it was suspending all official visits to South Africa. The order came in a statement signed by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana.
Sitting lawmakers, committees and staff have also been told to boycott legislative activities hosted or organised by South Africa. The directive against continued xenophobic attacks took effect immediately and stays in force until further notice.
The decision followed consultations between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen.
Timing sharpens the message. The suspension lands just days before the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. It opens in Cape Town on 13 September and runs through the 19th. Nigerian legislators will now be sitting it out.
The legislature’s statement is blunt. It says the leadership is gravely concerned by the persistence of xenophobic attacks. Nigerians have been killed, injured and displaced. Many have been forced to abandon businesses, investments and homes.
“The safety, dignity and welfare of Nigerians abroad remain paramount and cannot be compromised,” the statement said.
Nigeria’s mission in Pretoria has documented no fewer than ten incidents this year alone. These are linked to protests and violence against Nigerians. Sunnyside in Pretoria and parts of Johannesburg have been named as particular flashpoints.
The pattern is not new. According to the chronology cited by lawmakers, waves of xenophobic attacks in South Africa have struck foreign nationals since 1995. They recurred in 2008, 2014, 2019 and now again in 2026.
Human Rights Watch has traced this year’s spike to vigilante campaigns. Chief among them is the so-called March and March movement. It staged anti-immigration protests in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Durban between April and May. The results were sometimes fatal for foreign shop owners.
The High Commission now wants a continental response. It plans to raise the recurrence of xenophobic attacks at the next African Union summit. Officials argue that a problem stretching back three decades needs more than repeated bilateral appeals.
Nigeria stood firmly behind South Africa during its struggle against apartheid. Lawmakers in Abuja now argue that solidarity has not been matched by protection on South African soil. Repeated appeals for decisive action from Pretoria, they say, have produced little change on the ground.
The legislature stressed that suspending visits is not a breakdown in relations between both countries. It called the move a firm expression of concern instead. The focus is the safety, dignity and welfare of Nigerians conducting legitimate business in South Africa.
Lawmakers want Pretoria to act. They are calling for urgent, concrete steps to end xenophobic attacks. They also want reported incidents investigated thoroughly and those responsible prosecuted.
The assembly also appealed to Nigeria’s 36 State Houses of Assembly. It asked them to take note of the decision and weigh similar measures of their own.
Economic ties between both countries remain significant despite the tension. The Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission is still described as the main channel for bilateral cooperation. The two sides have not met since December 2024. That leaves little formal room to defuse the row before the Cape Town conference opens.
The 2019 wave of xenophobic attacks triggered retaliatory attacks on South African-owned businesses in Nigeria. Similar reprisals followed elsewhere on the continent. It is a reminder of how quickly anger over the treatment of migrants can spread beyond South Africa’s own borders.
Whether a parliamentary boycott moves South Africa’s government remains uncertain. For now, the boycott signals a sharper Nigerian response to xenophobic attacks ahead of next week’s Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.
