A Nigerian returnee from South Africa, Okafor Ugochukwu, has recounted how repeated xenophobic attacks forced him to flee the country without his two daughters after more than a decade of living and doing business there.
According to a report by Punch on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, Ugochukwu told Vanguard that he left Nigeria in 2014 in search of better economic opportunities, travelling through Tanzania and Mozambique before settling in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he established several businesses.
The Anambra State indigene said he spent about 10 years building his livelihood before experiencing three separate xenophobic attacks, which he said destroyed his businesses, left him homeless and ultimately forced him to leave the country.
Ugochukwu attributed the hostility to the belief among some South Africans that foreign nationals are responsible for unemployment and rising crime.
“The only thing they tell us is that we are taking their jobs and taking their women. But I don’t understand that because most Nigerians there have their own businesses. We have our own shops. We are there to survive,” he said.
He argued that many Nigerians in South Africa are self-employed and operate legitimate businesses rather than competing for local jobs. According to him, they migrated to the country in search of better opportunities and to support their families, not to create hardship for South African citizens.
