"I Left My Twins and Wife": Nigerian Man Opens Up On How He Fled South Africa
- Nigerian Richard Itoro, 47, fled Johannesburg in June after anti-migrant protests forced him to abandon his wife, twins, home and car dealership
- Itoro says he held legal papers to stay in South Africa, but authorities refused to let his South African wife and children board the repatriation flight with him
- Ghana and Nigeria have both raised diplomatic objections after their citizens were harassed and expelled despite holding valid immigration documents
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A Nigerian businessman who spent over 15 years building a life in South Africa has described the moment he boarded a voluntary repatriation flight in June and left his South African wife and twin children behind in Johannesburg.
Richard Itoro, 47, had built a car dealership, purchased a home and started a family in the country before the wave of anti-migrant protests that swept South Africa this year made him fear for his safety.
Source: Getty Images
He chose to return to Nigeria rather than remain under what he described as constant harassment.
"If I go home and start all over again, it's better than being here, being harassed, being scared for my life," Itoro told the BBC.
Separated from his family
Itoro said the Nigerian high commission would not allow his wife and children to travel with him on the repatriation flight. He described the departure as feeling like a scene from a film where someone boards the last helicopter out of a city under siege, as reported by BBC reported.
"I wish I could have just begged the people from the embassy and said: 'This is my wife, I can't leave her behind and my kids,' but I couldn't," he said.
His wife was also subjected to threats from neighbours who told her:
"You're married to a Nigerian. Those of you who are married to Nigerians we are supposed to arrest you people."
Itoro says he held valid documentation proving his right to stay in South Africa. Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, confirmed this was not an isolated case, telling South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola during a recent bilateral meeting:
"We have records of Nigerians who have legitimate papers to remain in South Africa, yet they have been attacked."
Ghana also caught in the tensions
Ghanaian hairstylist Emmanuel Asamoah, 37, had a similar experience. After moving to Soweto in 2023, he was confronted by a group who surrounded him, pushed him and ordered him to leave the country. The encounter was filmed and circulated widely online after April, drawing significant attention across West Africa.
"They came to me and started pushing me… they said that I should go home, that we are spoiling their country, because of us, they don't eat, we are taking their girlfriends," Asamoah told the BBC.
He says he, too, had a valid entry stamp in his passport. He returned to Ghana in May and has since opened a cement business with support from a local entrepreneur.
Ghana's Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, criticised the treatment of his citizens, arguing that South Africa, which received support from other African nations during the anti-apartheid struggle, "should be the epitome of Pan-Africanism."
South Africa's Culture Minister, Gayton McKenzie, maintained the protests targeted undocumented migrants, while Foreign Minister Lamola said President Cyril Ramaphosa remained firm on the country's right to enforce its immigration laws.
Back in Lagos, Itoro said he speaks with his wife daily.
"I'm broken. There is hope, because my wife is going to join me very soon… but it was heartbreaking, and that's how I felt: like I lost everything," he said.
Xenophobia: Shettima urges ECOWAS to confront South Africa
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that Vice-President Kashim Shettima addressed the 69th ECOWAS summit in Sierra Leone, calling on West African leaders to confront xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Shettima reminded South Africa that Nigerian students had deductions made from their scholarship allowances to finance liberation movements in Southern Africa.
The remarks came amid fresh diplomatic tensions following attacks that killed at least 4 Nigerians, prompting Nigeria to evacuate 1,490 citizens from South Africa.
Source: Legit.ng
