The Abia State Government has expressed shock and deep sadness over the brutal killing of a Nigerian citizen from Abia State, Mr. Chika Ibe of Lokpaukwu, Umuchieze in Umunneochi LGA Abia, in the hands of members of the South African Police Service in Cape Town on Wednesday, July 23, 2026.
A release endorsed by Ferdinand Ekeoma
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity says disturbing videos circulating online show police officers assaulting Mr. Ibe, with one officer allegedly using a polyethylene bag to repeatedly suffocate him until he died.
While noting that the circumstances surrounding the operation are still under investigation, the statement said what is clear from the footage is a level of cruelty that is condemnable in the strongest terms.
In one of the videos, Mr. Ibe was heard shouting loudly “I’m dying” yet, the Police Officers remained unperturbed until he stopped breathing,” the statement lamented.
This incident comes on the heels of reports that another Nigerian, Mr. Egwabor Patrick Chuks, was also shot and is currently receiving treatment for severe injuries.
According to the release, while Abia State Government joins the Federal Government in condemning this dastardly act, it recalled 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.
It further pointed out that Nigerians in the diaspora deserve to live with dignity and safety, not in fear.
Abia state government therefore demanded for immediate answers from the South African government through a swift, transparent, and independent investigation into the killing be done quickly.
The government also requested that perpetrators of this heinous act must be identified, arrested, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, stressing that it won’t accept anything short of justice.
The statement therefore called on the government of South Africa to immediately bring this carnage to a halt by genuinely calling its citizens to order as the attacks are a very sad commentary on Africans who are supposed to live as brothers and sisters.
To this end the Governor, Dr Alex Otti, on behalf of the government and good people of Abia State, commiserated with the family of Mr. Ibe and prayed God to grant them the fortitude to bear this painful loss, and eternal repose to the soul of the deceased,
