As they moved to arrest Simon, he “collapsed”. Paramedics were called to the scene and he was “declared deceased at the scene”.
Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Nigeria’s foreign ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa described the incident as “a very unfortunate situation”.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is now looking into what happened.
South Africa’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, during its regular public update on the country’s approach to migration management on Sunday, also confirmed that the matter was being investigated.
Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, who chairs the committee, said that during the police operation in Cape Town last Thursday “some foreign nationals… were resisting law enforcement operations”.
In June, Nigeria’s foreign ministry reported the death of Emeka Charles Iroegbu, also allegedly at the hands of South Africa’s police. Ipid is also investigating that incident.
Diplomatic tensions have also grown between South Africa and Ghana following claims that a Ghanaian man was killed during anti-migrant protests in South Africa, allegations South African officials have rejected.
Ghana was the first African country to repatriate citizens from South Africa at the start of the recent wave of anti-migrant protests.
Two Ghanaian nationals have also petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged attacks against migrants in South Africa. The petition alleges there has been a “pattern of widespread and systematic attacks” against foreigners, arguing the violence could amount to crimes against humanity.
The South African government has rejected the petition as “opportunistic”, saying it does not meet the ICC’s legal threshold and that its own courts are capable of addressing such cases. The ICC has not said whether it will consider the request.
Last week, leaders of the West African regional bloc Ecowas condemned reported attacks on African migrants in South Africa, as Nigeria and Ghana raised the issue at a summit in Sierra Leone. They called on South African authorities to act quickly to protect foreign nationals.
South Africa has said it “categorically reject[s] xenophobia, racism, homophobia, and intolerance and discrimination in all their manifestations”. President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged concerns over migration but has urged citizens not to take the law into their own hands.
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