Another Nigerian Shot Dead in South Africa

Barely four days after the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, assured Nigerians that they were not targeted for killings in South Africa, the Nigerian community in that country has expressed shock over the killing of another Nigerian, Martin Ebuzoeme, by unknown assailants.

The President of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Adetola Olubola, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that the victim was killed in Yeoville, Johannesburg around 7:30p.m. on July 12.

The killing occurred barely 24 hours after the visit of Ramaphosa to Nigeria.

Ramaphosa had during his visit on July 11 said the killing of Nigerians and other foreign nationals in the country was an act of criminality, not specifically targeted at Nigerians.

“The killings are caused by high level of unemployment among the youths as well as other social factors emanating from long apartheid misrule.

“Government is however, doing its best to bring it down,” Ramaphosa had said.

The Nigerian Consul General in Johannesburg, Godwin Adama, said the latest killing did not have anything to do with xenophobic attacks.

Adama said the killing happened in a crime-prone area of the country.

“The man was killed by unknown gunmen and has nothing to do with xenophobic.

“The place is a crime-prone area and those kind of assassinations happened often in that area.

“There is no investigation that showed that it was xenophobic.

“Within a year here, we have about 16,000 murders which do not necessarily have anything to do with any national of a particular country,” he said.

NAN reported that killings of Nigerians in South Africa had been on the increase in recent times.

Before the latest one, there was the assassination of Ozumba Tochukwu-Lawrence by an unknown gunman at 10 Koppe, Middleburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa, on July 6.

Another Nigerian, ThankGod Okoro, was also reportedly shot dead in Hamburg, Florida West Rand, Johannesburg, on April 9 by the South African Police Flying Squad.

There was also the killing of Clement Nwaogu in April, a father of two, who was burnt to death by his assailant.

The wanton killings of Nigerians in South Africa had sparked a number of protests there.

For demanding justice on behalf of their fallen compatriots, 14 of the protesters were taken into custody and branded drug peddlers.