Mela Claude Ake and shared with Technext, the association made clear this was a decision rooted in the safety of Nigerians living in South Africa. He confirmed the sequence of events: the original invite required physical presence in Cape Town, and SiBAN declined; the organisers offered a virtual option instead, and SiBAN declined that too. “We felt that honouring this invite at this time would be most inappropriate considering the news of the mistreatment of Nigerians in South Africa,” he said. Protest against xenophobiaThis comes after a brutal few months for Nigerians in South Africa. South Africa has seen recurring waves of xenophobic violence dating back to 2015 and 2019, both of which disproportionately targeted Nigerian nationals, and vigilante movements like Operation Dudula have kept the pattern alive for years.