The Nigerian community in South Africa has expressed shock over the killing of another Nigerian, Martin Ebuzoeme, by unknown assailants in that country.
President of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Adetola Olubola, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, that the victim was killed in Yeoville, Johannesburg around 7:30 pm on July 12.
The killing came barely 24 hours after the visit of South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to Nigeria.
Mr Ramaphosa had during his visit on July 11 said that the killing of 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 youth as well as other social factors emanating from long apartheid misrule.
“Government is however, doing all best possible to bring it down,” Ramaphosa had said.
The Nigeria Consul General in Johannesburg, Godwin Adama, said that latest killing did not have anything to do with xenophobic attacks.
Mr Adama told the NAN on phone from Johannesburg that the killing happened in a crime infested area of the country.
“The man was killed by unknown gunmen and has nothing to do with xenophobia.
“The place is a crime-prone area and those kinds 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 reports that killing 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, a father of two, who was burnt to death by his assailant, in April.
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.
