Nigeria demands probe into citizen's death in South African police raid

Nigeria’s Federal Government and its consulate in Johannesburg condemned the killing of Nigerian national Ibeh Chika Simon during a South African Police Service operation in Bellville, Cape Town on July 23. Video footage showed police restraining Simon with a plastic bag and repeatedly strangling him. The same operation also left another Nigerian, Egwabor Patrick Chuks, severely injured by gunfire and under treatment.

The Nigerian consulate described the incident as an "alarming pattern of unresolved extrajudicial killings" of foreign nationals and called for an immediate, transparent investigation and accountability for the officers involved. It noted that Simon’s death marks the fifth officially reported fatality of Nigerians in South Africa, amid rising anti‑African sentiment, and urged that “Afrophobia” be placed on the agenda of the upcoming African Union summit.