News

ECOWAS Parliament to Probe, Make Recommendations on Xenophobic Violence Against West Africans in South Africa

Published

1 week ago

May 5, 2026

Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

In a rare moves, West African Lawmakers have registered dismay over violent attacks against their citizens living in South Africa prompting an urgent investigation and recommendations.

It could be recalled that the last few weeks have witnessed grave attacks on Africans mostly Nigerians and Ghanaians living in South fueled by anti migrant movements and sentiments such as Operation Dudula.

In a touching presentation titled:

“West African lives, dignity, and the imperative of integration: accountability, justice and free movement, and regional security,” Hon. George Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, Third Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and Leader of the Ghanaian Delegation said:

“The xenophobic violence engulfing South Africa – Across KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Cape Town, and Pretoria, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Ethiopians, and other African nationals have been attacked, looted, displaced, and killed.”

He noted that the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg confirmed the deaths of two citizens — Amaramiro Emmanuel and Ekpenyong Andrew.

He reported that an Ethiopian national was shot dead at a busy intersection, and the killing was captured on CCTV.

Hon. George pointed out that:

“Ghanaian shops have been shuttered under threat. Vigilante groups have stopped people outside hospitals and schools to demand documents. Footage of foreign nationals being beaten and subjected to verbal assault has circulated on every screen across this continent.”

He explained that Ghana’s Foreign Minister, the Honourable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, summoned South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner in Accra over a documented incident in which a Ghanaian legal resident was confronted and told — to leave and ‘fix his country.’

Hon. George said:

“Nigeria similarly summoned South Africa’s envoy in Abuja. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission declared on the twenty-ninth of April that the situation is deteriorating and earlier engagements have not yielded calm. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has formally deplored the attacks. And on the first of May, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema asked his own compatriots: after beating Nigerians and Ghanaians, how many jobs have you created?”

Hon. George called on the Speaker and Community Parliamentarians to address directly the intervention of President Cyril Ramaphosa in his keynote address at the 2026 Freedom Day National Celebrations in Bloemfontein on the twenty-seventh of April.

“This Parliament acknowledges that President Ramaphosa spoke. He said — and I quote the official record of the Presidency — ‘We must not allow these concerns to give rise to xenophobia, directed towards people from other African countries or any other parts of the world. Instead, we must insist that the law be upheld and enforced.”

He referenced the South African President’s comments in which he said that “We will not allow people to take the law into their own hands.”

“And he affirmed: ‘It cannot be, and it must never be, that we trample into the dust the African fellowship that made our freedom possible.”

Hon. George said that they take President Ramaphosa at his word but expressed reservations on the rhetorical framing.

“But it is precisely because we take him at his word that I say, through this forum and for the record: words delivered from a ceremonial platform do not arrest a single perpetrator,” Hon. George emphasized.

“Condemnations, however eloquent, do not bring a single attacker before a magistrate.

Calls to uphold the law ring hollow when the perpetrators of mob violence, arson, looting, assault, and murder walk free — their faces visible in videos that every African has seen.”

Hon. George recalled that on the same Freedom Day speech, President Ramaphosa described African nationals as “guests whose welcome is conditional on respect for South African laws”.

“That framing — however unintentionally — provides militant groups with a grammar of conditional hospitality that they have readily translated into a licence for violence.

A government cannot simultaneously condemn mob justice and deploy the language that mobs use to justify their actions.

My personal statement to this House, Mr Speaker, is this: South Africa must move from speeches to action.

The South African Police Service, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate must investigate every documented incident.

Social media has provided an abundance of documentation.

The perpetrators many of whose faces are known must be identified, arrested, charged, and prosecuted to conviction, without fear or favour, without selectivity, and without impunity. Not some of them. All of them.

News

Ex-IG Alkali Withdraws from Yobe APC Governorship Race

Published

4 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Former Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba (retd.), has withdrawn from the 2027 Yobe State governorship race on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

Baba announced his withdrawal in a statement made available to Newsmen on Wednesday, saying the decision followed extensive consultations with political stakeholders and associates across the state and beyond.

The former police chief said the move was taken in the interest of party unity, stability and progress ahead of the APC governorship primaries.

‎He stated, “After due consultations and exhaustive meetings with the Vice-President, Federal Republic of Nigeria Senator Kashim Shettima, the Executive Governors of Yobe and Borno states, elders and political associates, as well as some very critical stakeholders across the seventeen Local Government Areas, I have decided to withdraw my aspiration for the governorship ticket ahead of the 2027 general elections.”

Baba described the decision as a difficult but necessary sacrifice for the unity of the ruling party in Yobe State.

‎“The decision was not arrived at easily; it is voluntary but an obvious sacrifice we must make in the interest of party unity, stability and progress of our dear state,” he said.

He urged his supporters to remain calm and continue supporting the APC and whoever emerges as the party’s governorship candidate.
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‎“Having made this decision, we urge our teeming supporters to remain calm, law-abiding and continue to support our great party, the APC, as well as the eventual gubernatorial candidate,” Baba added.
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‎The retired IGP also reaffirmed his commitment to the development of Yobe State despite stepping down from the race.
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His withdrawal comes less than 24 hours after another APC governorship aspirant, Alhaji Lawan Kolo Geidam, also exited the contest.

The remaining aspirants include Senator Ibrahim Muhammed Bomai, Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja, Bashir Sheriff Machina and Kashim Musa Tumsah.

News

Wike Throws Jab at Makinde, Says Alliance with APM Unknown to INEC

Published

4 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has described the alliance between Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde-backed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) as fraudulent.

“When I say people are fraudulent, they thought I was joking. And that’s the 419 we are talking about,” said Mr Wike during an inspection of ongoing road projects in Abuja on Thursday.

Mr Makinde earlier declared his interest to contest the 2027 presidency after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the APM to be its standard bearer.

“I, Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, Excellency, announce my candidacy for the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the governor stated.

According to the agreement, candidates of the Turaki-led PDP faction in Oyo State loyal to Mr Makinde who are contesting governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and state assembly seats are expected to run on the platform of the APM rather than the PDP in the 2027 elections.

However, Mr Wike said the alliance was unknown to the Independent National Electoral Commission and his faction of the PDP.

He added, “There’s no alliance between PDP and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) or any other political party, as the case may be. INEC also knows that there’s nothing called PDP-APM alliance.”

Noting that the ongoing political activities within the PDP, including the screening of aspirants, clearly showed that the party remained independent and had not entered into any coalition arrangement, the minister accused Mr Makinde of pursuing his personal presidential ambition through the APM platform.

“PDP has presented a presidential candidate and watch out who will be submitted to INEC and see whether there’s anything called PDP-APM.

“What you have is Seyi Makinde joining APM to be able to actualise his presidential ambition, which is already dead on arrival,” Mr Wike said.

The PDP has been embroiled in leadership crisis stirring yet to be resolved court cases.

News

Gbajabiamila Narrates How He Almost Lost His Job as Tinubu’s Chief of Staff

Published

5 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Nigerian Tracker

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, has revealed that the involvement of Honourable Desmond Elliot in the overturned impeachment of Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, almost cost him his job as as chief of staff to the president.

Speaking to members and supporters of the APC in Surulere on Thursday, Mr Gbajabiamila revealed that he almost got sacked by Mr Tinubu during Mr Obasa’s impeachment saga involving Mr Elliot and other members of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

“I almost lost my job as Chief of Staff last year because of Desmond Elliot. Mr President called me to his study in his house in Abuja during the Obasa saga, and he said, ‘I heard this Desmond is your boy, the one we gave you, we heard he’s part of the people causing problems in the Lagos House of Assembly,’ and immediately I told Mr President that Desmond was not part of them. I haven’t even confirmed from Desmond, but I defended him.”

“But the president said, ‘well, I’m telling you from intelligence that he’s part of them. Go and tell him to retrace his steps,’ and I called Desmond and told him that if he was part of them, he should withdraw,” Mr Gbajabiamila added.

He, however, noted that during his phone call with Mr Elliot, the lawmaker dilly-dallied rather than being straightforward with him about his involvement in Mr Obasa’s impeachment saga.

Mr Gbajabiamila noted that three days after his meeting with the president, he received a phone call from the Director General of the State Security Service, who informed him that he was being accused of supporting Mr Elliot to ensure the impeachment of Mr Obasa.

He added, “Of course the president will not believe that Desmond would do such a thing, and I would not know about it. But I told the DG DSS that I had already spoken with Desmond, and he promised to withdraw his involvement in the matter. So, I called Desmond again and directed him to issue a public statement that he wasn’t part of them, but till tomorrow, he never did. If not for my kind of relationship with Mr President, I won’t be here today.”

On January 13, 2025, 32 of the 40 state legislators impeached Mr Obasa while he was out of the country. This triggered a leadership crisis in the Lagos State House of Assembly, prompting Mr Tinubu’s intervention and the subsequent reinstatement of Mr Obasa as Speaker after more than 40 days.