The Nigerian community in South Africa has threatened to stage protests to demand justice for a Nigerian man, Emeka Uzor, who was fatally shot during an anti-drug operation in the Johannesburg area, community leaders said.
Uzor was killed about 3 p.m. on Feb. 8 at a petrol station in Windsor East, Randburg, a suburb of Johannesburg, according to Nigerian community officials.
South African opposition party ActionSA confirmed the shooting in a statement posted on its website, saying the incident occurred during an anti-drug operation involving its Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, Xolani Khumalo.
“ActionSA can confirm that during an anti-drug operation yesterday, a shooting incident occurred in which a Nigerian suspect, identified as being involved in drug trafficking, was shot,” the statement said. The party defended its actions, saying it would continue to support “decisive and lawful” measures to combat drug syndicates.
ActionSA said its anti-crime strategy included deploying specialised units, strengthening community policing structures and using crime-mapping technology to address insecurity in the area.
The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Smart Nwobi, rejected claims that Uzor was a drug dealer and accused those involved in the operation of acting unlawfully.
“If he was a drug dealer, why was he not arrested?” Nwobi said in an interview. “Anytime a Nigerian is killed, the narrative is that he was a fraudster or a drug dealer so people will not ask questions. We are not going to accept that this time.”
Nwobi alleged that Uzor was shot by a private security operative and said the same individual had previously been linked to the unresolved disappearance of another Nigerian national. He did not provide evidence for the claim.
In a separate statement issued later Monday, the Nigerian Union said Uzor, who hailed from Nkerefi in Enugu State, southeastern Nigeria, was shot multiple times while seated inside his parked vehicle. The union said more than a dozen bullets struck the victim and that stray bullets damaged nearby vehicles and endangered civilians.
The union also criticized public comments attributed to Khumalo, saying they appeared to justify the killing, and described the incident as part of a broader pattern of violence against Nigerians in South Africa. It drew parallels with the unresolved killing of another Nigerian, Silas Ani, in a separate incident.
The Nigerian Union called on South Africa’s Minister of Police and the national police commissioner to launch a thorough, transparent and impartial investigation and ensure that all those involved are held accountable. It warned that extrajudicial killings have no place in a constitutional democracy.
Nwobi said the union had written to Nigeria’s newly appointed consul general in South Africa and warned that protests would follow if no concrete action was taken. He urged Nigerians in South Africa to remain calm and law-abiding while efforts to seek justice continue.
Nigeria’s Nigerians in Diaspora Commission said it had not yet received an official report on the incident.
“I only read it online. No one has officially contacted us,” commission spokesperson Abdulrahman Balogun said. “We will take action once we are officially informed.”
The killing adds to a history of high-profile cases involving Nigerians in South Africa that have strained relations between the two countries, with Nigerian community leaders accusing South African authorities and security operatives of profiling Nigerians as criminals. In July 2025, two Nigerians were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Durban, according to local reports.
