Ibrahim Mahama supports second phase evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA—THE Nigeria government has called for urgent action and reparations following a wave of violent attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, told reporters after briefing President Bola Tinubu on talks with South African Foreign Minister Roland Lamola. President on the meeting we had and the specific commitments we secured from the South Africans,” Enikanolaiye said.

“One immediate priority is to quickly activate the Early Warning Mechanism, and to strengthen the bi-national commission between our two countries.” He added that President Tinubu “specifically” endorsed those measures. Enikanolaiye said the ministerial-level engagement produced concrete results, including the evacuation of roughly 1,490 Nigerians back to Nigeria. “We concluded evacuations of about 1,490 or so Nigerians.

President for making the resources available,” he said, noting that two evacuation batches were funded by private individuals. “We’ve done a good job bringing them back, even though quite a number still want to come back.” Describing the violence as “Afrophobic,” not merely xenophobic, Enikanolaiye said the Nigerian president agreed the distinction mattered. “President agreed with me that it is Afrophobic, and that Africa must unite in ensuring that we put an end to this spiral of violence targeted at Africans in South Africa,” he said, invoking Tinubu’s “very close relationship with Ramaphosa” as diplomatic leverage to stop the bloodshed.

Enikanolaiye also warned that diplomatic patience has limits. “We are not helpless in this situation. All options are still on the table.

But we would prefer diplomacy and negotiations to continue until we can arrive at a mutually acceptable outcome that will protect Nigerian citizens—their lives and property in South Africa.” Family members and returnees have reported heavy losses of personal property, and Enikanolaiye said the government is preparing to press formal claims. “There is an issue on the ground: those who have been repatriated lost a lot of valuables, and they are making demands that those things be compensated,” he said. “In preparation for us lodging our claim, we have designed a form to be filled by all Nigerians who may have lost property in South Africa.

The Chief Executive Officer of Engineers & Planners and philanthropist, Ibrahim Mahama, has committed resources to supporting the recent evacuation of Ghanaians from South Africa. His intervention comes days after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the commencement of the second phase of its voluntary evacuation exercise for an estimated 1,000 Ghanaians who registered to return home following xenophobic attacks targeting African nationals in South Africa. The Government of Ghana had earlier evacuated 926 citizens in three separate chartered flights.