Tony Elochukwu, a Nigerian from Nnobi, Anambra state, was on Thursday shot dead in South Africa.
Elochukwu, would be the third Nigerian to be murdered in the country in April alone.
In a letter written to Godwin Adams, consular general, Nigerian consulate in Johanesburg, Ben Okoli, the president of Nigerian citizens association in South Africa (NICASA) lamented the continued killings and the failure of the South African government to prosecute the offenders.
Okoli narrated that a lone Nigerian man walked to some Nigerians at a restaurant and inquired from them where to get some weed to smoke.
READ ALSO: 2023: Power will remain in the North; Igbos, Yorubas can’t be trusted – Miyetti Allah
He said those standing, however, told him that they did not know where since they do not smoke but the man pulled out his gun and shot Elochukwu on the head, then sped off in a car parked down the street.
He called on the consulate to put pressure on the South African police to pursue cases of killings of any Nigerian with seriousness.
“The South African police must stop attempting to encourage these killings by lack of investigation and prosecution with aim of bringing to justice every criminal involved in these heinous crimes,” he said.
Adams, who also condemned the killings, however, explained that the killings can not be classified as xenophobic attacks.
“It is clear that as much as any form of criminality and xenophobic attacks against foreigners, including Nigerians in South Africa is condemnable, the killings do not fit into xenophobic attacks,” he said.
“The cases are the stabbing of a Nigerian, Mr Bonny Iwuola, in Turfontain in Johanesburg on April 6 at about 23:30 hours in front of his house, by unknown assailants, and more of crime related murder.
“Investigations are on but eye witness accounts indicated that he was killed and his new Mercedes car-2019 model was snatched and driven away. All these cases do not appear to be xenophobic.
“They are part of the usual crime-related killings in South Africa. Police statistics in South Africa indicate that over 18,000 murders take place in South Africa in a year.”
Leave a Reply