Nigeria summons South African envoy over attacks on its nationals

Nigeria has summoned South Africa's acting High Commissioner over a spate of recent attacks on foreigners in the southern African nation.

The meeting will focus on recent marches held by anti-immigrant groups and "documented instances of mistreatment of Nigerian citizens and attacks on their businesses". At least two Nigerians and four Ethiopians have been killed in recent weeks, local media reported, while there have been attacks on citizens of other African countries. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the attacks but also cautioned foreigners to respect local laws. During a march by one such group in the capital, Pretoria, last week, foreign-owned businesses were urged to close in case of violence. One Nigerian man told BBC Pidgin: "It is not okay because we are blacks, we are brothers… everybody comes here just to survive."

Nigeria will formally convey its "profound concern" at a meeting on Monday over incidents in South Africa, saying they could affect existing relations between the countries, according to a foreign ministry statement. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa used his Freedom Day address last week - marking the country's first democratic elections in 1994 - to remind South Africans of the support other African nations had given in the struggle against the racist system of apartheid. Last month, Ghana summoned South Africa's top envoy after a video was widely shared showing a Ghanaian man being challenged to prove he had the correct immigration papers. South Africa is home to about 2.4 million migrants, just less than 4% of the population, according to official figures.