Nigeria says South African police liable for deaths of citizens

Nigeria has accused the South African authorities of criminal liability in the deaths of three of its citizens, warning that it will mobilise regional and international action to ensure those responsible for violence against foreigners are held to account.

The West Africa nation accused the South African police – specifically officers from the Tshwane Metro Police – of killing a Nigerian national on 28 June in Pretoria “using gruesome interrogation techniques,” according to an emailed statement from the Nigerian foreign ministry on Sunday.

Read:
South Africa deploys police as anti-migrant deadline looms
‘Nothing to fear’ as police vow to get a handle on anti-immigrant protests
Government has set a ‘very dangerous precedent’

The same officers had been responsible for the “extra-judicial killing” of another Nigerian, the statement said, while a third Nigerian was killed by unknown criminal elements.

A South African police spokesperson didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

Liability

The killings raise the question of state liability under international law, the ministry said, adding that data collected by its missions in South Africa “lays the grounds for criminal liability” of the police and the South African government.

South Africa’s relations with Nigeria and other African countries have come under strain from the recent anti-immigrant protests demanding that undocumented migrants leave the country.

Nigeria has already evacuated hundreds of citizens due to the protests and some Nigerian lawmakers have called on the government to consider nationalising South African businesses operating in the country in retaliation against the attacks on its citizens.

Read: MTN finalising Nigeria, Uganda fintech spinoffs

Nigeria warned that protest leaders who incite violence against fellow Africans “will also be held to account,” while warning that all options remain on the table to retaliate if the “apartheid-style behaviour of South Africa against foreigners is not addressed”.

© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.