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The death of a Nigerian national, 42-year-old Ibeh Chika Simon, during a recent arrest by operatives of the South Africa Police Service in Bellview, Cape Town has continued to raise eyebrows worsening a diplomatic row over xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa.
Fresh questions have begun to emerge after a video circulating on social media over the weekend purportedly showed the victim being manhandled by cops during an arrest despite denial by the SAPS.
In a statement, the Nigerian Consulate General in Johannesburg said that Simon died “under questionable circumstances” during a SAPS operation on July 23.
Consul General, Ninikanwa Okey-Uche, said the consulate was “deeply appalled by reports of the egregious police tactics that led to his death, as well as the shooting of another Nigerian, Egwabor Patrick Chuks, who remains under treatment with severe injuries”.
According to the consular general, the incident points to “an alarming pattern of unresolved extrajudicial killings/deaths and unacceptable misconduct against foreign nationals”.
Okey-Uche added that “amid rising Afrophobic sentiment, such actions reveal a troubling disregard for the fundamental rights to life, dignity, and due process guaranteed by South African law to all human beings”.
In a statement, Western Cape police dismissed any insinuation of wrongdoing by cops, saying the victim died after becoming unwell while officers attempted to arrest him during an operation.
The police said Simon died while he “was being placed under arrest [as] he allegedly became unwell and collapsed”.
However, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), the body responsible for overseeing police conduct, said preliminary post-mortem findings showed that Simon “sustained multiple bruises and abrasions on his back and chest.”
IPID said it has launched an investigation into the incident.
South Africa’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration also confirmed an investigation into the incident has commenced.
As tensions continue to fester over xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals, particularly Nigerians, in South Africa, President Bola Tinubu on Monday declined to receive a special delegation from South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Sources in the presidency said Tinubu directed the visiting team, led by South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, to instead meet with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye.
