South Africans stripped our sisters naked: Tinubu, Obi, Atiku wring their fingers

By Faruk Ahmed

A video is circulating on the internet. You may have seen it. Two women – Nigerians, our sisters – are stripped naked on a major thoroughfare in South Africa. They are beaten, bloodied, repeatedly kicked in the stomach and in their genitals. The violence is recorded on camera by a laughing mob. Cars and motorcycles whiz by. No security officer stops. No siren approaches.

This happened in broad daylight.

This is not the first time Nigerians are being attacked in South Africa. In 2008, 2015, and 2019, waves of xenophobic violence swept through the country. Nigerians were among the hardest hit. Now, in 2026, it is happening again. At least two Nigerians are dead – one beaten to death by South African military personnel, another found dead in the Pretoria Central Mortuary after an “interaction” with metro police.

And what has our government done?

Summoned South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner. Scheduled a bilateral meeting. Issued a statement of condemnation. Demanded autopsy reports.

That is not enough.

 

Where is our foreign minister?

The Foreign Minister, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has condemned the attacks. She has spoken of “full cooperation” and “appropriate disciplinary action.” But where is she? She should be on the ground in South Africa. Not in Abuja. Not in a meeting room. In Pretoria. In Johannesburg. In the streets where our people are being hunted.

If the president cannot go – and he should – then the Foreign Minister must go. She must stand before the South African government and say: “This ends now. You will protect our citizens, or there will be consequences.”

She must coordinate the evacuation of every Nigerian who wishes to leave. Not 130. Not a few hundred. Every single one who is trapped and afraid.

This is what a serious government does. Look at the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. When their citizens are threatened abroad, their diplomats do not sit in air‑conditioned offices issuing press releases. They land. They demand. They rescue.

Why is the life of a Nigerian not worth that?

 

The presidential silences

Our frontrunners for the 2027 election – Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso– have said little and done nothing. They are already campaigning. They are shaking hands, making promises, and positioning themselves for power. But not one of them has travelled to South Africa. Not one has stood with our suffering brothers and sisters.

They are only concerned about how to win the next election. Not about how to save Nigerian lives.

Shame on them all.

 

A hard word

We must also speak a hard truth to ourselves.

Nigerians in the diaspora – especially our Igbo brothers and sisters – sometimes behave as if they own the countries they have migrated to. The creation of “Igbo kings” in communities that are not in Nigeria is an insult to the host nations. It is seen as a provocation. It feeds the narrative that Nigerians are not there to integrate, but to dominate.

And the excessive display of wealth – the flashy cars, the lavish ceremonies, the public flamboyance – only fans the flames of envy and resentment.

This is not to justify violence. Nothing justifies stripping a woman naked and kicking her in the genitals. Nothing.

But we must be wise. When you live in another man’s house, you do not boast loudly. You do not flaunt what you have. You do not create parallel kings.

We must tell ourselves the truth: some of our behaviour provokes hostility. And that hostility is then weaponised by politicians and populists to justify atrocities.

 

The ultimate lesson

The tragedy in South Africa – and earlier attacks in Ghana – should teach every Nigerian one painful lesson: there is no country like your own.

No matter how much you build in another man’s land, you will never be truly safe. When the mob comes, they will not ask for your visa. They will not ask for your investment. They will only see your face and hear your accent. And they will turn on you.

We must stop dreaming of fleeing. We must stop romanticising “abroad.” We must stop selling our birthright for a passport that will never protect us when the dogs of xenophobia are unleashed.

 

Build Nigeria

It is not easy. It is frustrating. It is often heartbreaking. But it is the only place where you will never be a foreigner. It is the only place where your children will not be asked to “go back to where you came from.”

Nigeria has problems – deep, structural, maddening problems. But it is ours. And we have no other home.

We must fix our economy so that our young people do not have to risk their lives in South Africa, Libya or Europe. We must fix our security so that our farmers can return to their fields. We must fix our education so that every child – every Almajiri child – can read and write and dream.

And we must demand that our leaders – not just the current president, but all the aspirants – show leadership now, not just during campaign season.

 

A call to action

To President Tinubu: Send your Foreign Minister to South Africa today. Not tomorrow. Today.

To the Foreign Minister: Go. Evacuate. Demand justice. And do not return until every Nigerian who wants to leave has been brought home.

To the presidential aspirants: Stop shaking hands and start saving lives. Go to South Africa. Stand with our people. Show us that you are leaders, not just politicians. We are watching!

To every Nigerian at home: Build this country. Invest here. Vote here. Fight here. There is no salvation in running away.

To every Nigerian abroad: Be wise. Be humble. Do not provoke. But also, do not be a victim. Come home if you can. Build here if you dare.

There is no country like Nigeria. Let us make it worth staying!

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Faruk Ahmed is the Coordinator of The Nation Builders Initiative (TNBI). He writes about citizenship, governance, and the urgent need to build a Nigeria that protects its own.

If you are a Nigerian affected by the attacks in South Africa, or if you want to support TNBI’s work in building a Nigeria worth staying for, reach out: WhatsApp 080 3535 4008 | Email: thenationbuildersinitiative@gmail.com