Nigerians killing one another in South Africa – Ibeto

The immediate past Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Ahmed Ibeto, yesterday said contrary to claims of xenophobic attacks, Nigerians in South Africa were the ones killing one another.

He said this in Minna, Niger State, in an interview with journalists after he presented his letter of intention to vie for the governorship of the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ibeto said from the statistics of killings as well as their remote and immediate causes available to the Nigeria Embassy showed that most of the incidents were due to conflicts among Nigerians resident in South Africa.

“I can authoritatively tell you from the evidence we have that out of four of such killings involving Nigerians, three are by Nigerians themselves as a result of rivalry, shady deals, cultism and drugs,” he said.

He said in most cases, the conflict were as a result of territorial control among drug barons.

He said he had on many occasions submitted detailed reports on such crises to the federal government which, he said, collaborated with South Africa authorities to stem the tide.

He however said there were few cases where South Africans killed Nigerians and torched their property as was the case of a Nigerian landlord, one Francis Ochuba, a property owner from Abia state, who was shot dead alongside his estate agent, a female South African on May 5.

Ibeto said the South African government had shown understanding and responded promptly anytime cases of xenophobia were reported.