…Urges South Africa govt to immediately halt carnage

Abia State Government has joined the Federal Government to condemn the brutal killing of Chika Ibe, a Nigerian citizen from the State, by members of the South African Police Service in Cape Town on Wednesday, July 23, 2026.

The State Government, in a statement signed by Ferdinand Ekeoma, Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Media and Publicity, said that it received with shock and deep sadness the news of the brutal killing of Chika Ibe of Lokpaukwu Umunneochi Local Government Area (LGA) Abia, in the hands of members of the South African Police Service in Cape Town on Wednesday, July 23, 2026.

Governor Alex Otti, on behalf of the Government and good people of Abia State, commiserates with the family of Chika Ibe and prays that God grants them the fortitude to bear the painful loss, and the soul of the deceased eternal repose.

The Abia State Government received with shock and deep sadness the news of the brutal killing of a Nigerian citizen from Abia State, Chika Ibe of Lokpaukwu Umunneochi Local Government Area (LGA), Abia, in the hands of members of the South African Police Service in Cape Town on Wednesday, July 23, 2026.

Disturbing videos circulating online show police officers assaulting Ibe, with one officer allegedly using a polyethene bag to repeatedly suffocate him until he died.

The circumstances surrounding the operation are still under investigation, but what is clear from the footage is a level of cruelty that is condemnable in the strongest terms. In one of the videos, Ibe was heard shouting loudly, “I’m dying,” yet the Police Officers remained unperturbed until he stopped breathing.

This incident comes on the heels of reports that Egwabor Patrick Chuks, another Nigerian, was also shot and is currently receiving treatment for severe injuries.

“We recall with pain that in recent times, many Nigerians have either been killed, assaulted, or had their businesses looted in a wave of xenophobic attacks and targeted violence carried out by some South Africans. Nigerians in the diaspora deserve to live with dignity and safety, not in fear”, the statement noted.

Abia State Government demanded immediate answers from the South African government, through a swift, transparent, and independent investigation into the killing.

They also demanded that the perpetrators of the heinous act must be identified, arrested, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, noting that anything short of justice will be a further insult to Nigeria and to the memory of this Abian and other Nigerians that had died in similar circumstances.

This is as they also urged the government of South Africa to immediately bring this carnage to a halt by genuinely calling its citizens to order, stressing that the attacks are a sad commentary on Africans, who are supposed to live as brothers and sisters.