News

The 189 Nigerian nationals evacuated from South Africa by the Nigerian government have narrated their experiences in the wake of xenophobic attacks on them and other foreign nationals living in South Africa.   They arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday and were received by Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), and officials …

Nigerians and other Africans living in the United Kingdom will march to the embassies of Nigeria and South Africa in London on Saturday (14 September) to express their displeasure over the xenophobic killings in South Africa. The protesters will ask both governments to act decisively to stop the incessant killing of foreign residents from other African countries living in South …

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abuja on Wednesday, dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the victory and re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari at the February 23, 2019 presidential poll. The petitioners asked the court to nullify the president’s election and order a fresh election on the ground …

It started as a rumour, but it’s now official. There is a programme to transfer migrants stranded in Libya to Rwanda, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday in Geneva. The measure is part of an “emergency transit mechanism”, to evacuate people at risk of harm in detention centres inside the county. Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesman, said the agreement …

The British Government has announced that international students will henceforth be able to stay and work in the UK after graduating. This is a huge boost to a policy that had previously restricted the period to four months. There will be no cap on the number of students who can apply, as those with student visa will be able to …

In Italy, a project aims to help writers who are migrants or come from migrant families, and to spread their work. Both experienced and aspiring poets, authors and journalists can participate. The project, titled “Words4link – Migrant Writing for Integration”, was just launched. It aims to promote the writing of migrant writers and writers from migrant families and to celebrate specific …

FOR THE RECORD!   Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi (91), founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party, addressed the Zulu community in Johannesburg on Sunday (8 September 2019) to quell tensions in light of the xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in the country.   The former interior minister addressed a lot of salient issues connected to the anti-foreigner riots, including irregular migration and …

Diplomatic actions taken by the Nigerian government against the incessant xenophobic attacks on her citizens and other foreign nationals living in South Africa may have been futile, as some protesters insisted all foreigners must leave the country. The crowd of protesters, on Sunday, disrupted a speech being delivered in Johannesburg by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a Zulu chief and former leader of …

African leaders have been paying tribute to Robert Mugabe, who died in the early hours of Friday. His 37-year-rule in Zimbabwe made him one of the continent’s longest-serving leaders. Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, on Friday, described the death of Mugabe as a “big loss”. Zimbabwe president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had announced that Mugabe, 95, died in Singapore. He …

Adams Oshiomhole, the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has called for the nationalization of South Africa-owned companies operating in Nigeria. Among the South African companies Oshiomhole wants the federal government to immediately nationalise are MTN, a multinational mobile telecommunications company operating in many African, European and Asian countries, Stanbic Bank and the direct broadcast satellite service DStv. …

Zimbabwe’s ex-president, Robert Mugabe, has died after battling ill health for years, his family has announced. The former leader, who  is believed to have died in the early hours of Friday,  had been in hospital in Singapore since April. Mugabe governed his country from its independence in 1980 until he was ousted in a military coup in November 2017, ending …

Asylum-seekers and refugees continue to be the targets of attacks in Germany — and they are almost always victims of far-right violence. Offenses range from verbal slurs to arson and dangerous bodily harm. German police registered a total of 609 attacks on asylum-seekers and refugees during the first half of 2019, according to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. The newspaper cited an answer given by …

A Nigerian airline has offered to evacuate Nigerians wishing to leave South Africa as the country’s diplomatic missions shut down in Nigeria. Raphael Adenaike reports. Air Peace, Nigeria’s biggest airline by fleet size, has offered to bring Nigerians living in South Africa back home. The airline announced the offer on Wednesday as a fallout of xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals …

Since the launch of nine “anchor centres” (“Ankerzentren”) in Germany last year, the concept of these holding facilities for asylum-seekers has been repeatedly criticized by NGOs while the government has called them a success. A new monitoring website lets current and former residents report incidents anonymously. Benjamin Bathke reports Three German states, including Bavaria, last year turned nine reception facilities …

A day after Nigeria’s foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, summoned Bobby Moroe, the South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria, to his office following xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa, Africa’s most populous country has now withdrawn its ambassador, Alhaji Kabiru Bala, to Pretoria. The latest diplomatic action was taken amidst attacks on South African-owned businesses operating in Nigeria. Abuja …

Twenty Nigerians were deported to their home country on 19 August. Our correspondent Raphael Adenaike was at the Lagos airport when the deportees arrived and they narrated their personal ordeals and experiences with the German police, immigration officials and medical doctors as well as the Nigerian Embassy to Raphael (read article here). Raphael also spoke with pro-refugee activists in Lagos …

As British politics grapples with how to handle Brexit, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson against going ahead with his decision to suspend – or prorogue – parliament. Going forward with the controversial plan, an attempt to stop MPs from preventing the UK from leaving the European Union without a deal, would be setting a bad …

The Federal Government of Nigeria has summoned Bobby Moroe, the South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria, following the latest xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals, including, Nigerians living in South Africa. Moroe was summoned by Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, to his office in Abuja on Tuesday. The action, in diplomatic practice, is a form of expression of displeasure …

Some Nigerians in Germany have faulted the method employed by Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist, in his call for a revolution against the Nigerian government. Speaking in a video interview with Samson Itondo of Afrobizgermany, the commentators said Sowore’s revolution call could have a partisan political undertone, having lost his bid to become the country’s president at the 2019 …

A former Nigerian minister and presidential contestant at the country’s last general election has been awarded a resident fellowship at one of Germany’s most prestigious academies. A prominent Nigerian, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has been awarded a Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin for the period from from September 2019 to February 2020. Others who bagged the …