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Tit for tat: FG weighs ‘all options’ against S’Africa over xenophobic attacks
The Federal Government says it is not going to keep quiet over the treatment meted out to its citizens in South Africa, who have been victims of xenophobi attacks in recent months leading to the massive evacuation from their troubling country.
Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said that the government of President Bola Tinubu was weighing “all options” in response to the development, such options included finding ways to repatriate properties of its fleeing citizens or getting compensations for them.
She said in a statement on Sunday that the President, was seriously concerned about the situation, adding that another batch of Nigerians is expected to leave South Africa on Tuesday.
The Minister, who also bewailed the continued wave of attacks, while conveying the position of Abuja through her official X handle on Monday morning, wrote: “Another evacuation flight will leave for Johannesburg tomorrow, Tuesday, 7th July, to bring home our citizens.”
Against the backdrop of the evacuation process which had seen hundreds of citizens brought back in the three batches operations that began last month, the Minister advised those wishing to return home to do so using the last flight for the project, expected to arrive in South Africa on 10th July.
She added: “Our Nationals are again advised to weigh the risks regarding whether to remain or return. Nigerians in South Africa who consider their lives at risk to take advantage of the FG-sponsored evacuation flights to be transported home.
“Following the earlier evacuations of our citizens in 3 separate operations, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, extended the Evacuations beyond the June 30 deadline, with the fourth evacuation flight having arrived in Nigeria on 3rd July 2026. Our citizens are strongly advised to take advantage of this extension and utilise the full capacity of the aircraft.”
Lamenting the further escalation of the situation, she revealed the recent killing of two Nigerians in the country, calling on the authorities in Pretoria to urgently investigate the incidents and bring those responsible to justice.
She said: “There are no signs that the situation is improving. Nigeria remains concerned about the safety of its citizens in South Africa as a result of the ongoing xenophobic protests and attacks on migrants, and even more so following the deaths of 2 Nigerians, Musa Yunana Joe and Charles Iroegbu, during these unfortunate events.
“For many still sitting on the fence, they should do well to note that properties and investments lost can be replaced, but not lives lost. The Federal Government of Nigeria remains committed to the safety and welfare of its citizens abroad and will put all necessary measures in place to protect them.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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