Nigerian students have not given South Africans seven days to leave Nigeria

“Nigerian Students claps b@ck at South Africa give South Africans and its Businesses Seven days ultimatum to l£ave their country (sic),” reads the caption of a Facebook post published on May 1, 2026. 

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Screenshot showing the false Facebook post, taken May 19, 2026

Shared more than 2,500 times, the post features a seven-minute-long video showing a man with headphones reacting to a video comprising three separate clips. 

The first clip shows a man identified on-screen as Danielson Bamidele Akpan speaking to journalists at a press conference, claiming to represent Nigerian students and issuing a seven-day ultimatum to South African businesses operating in Nigeria.

“All South African businesses, please, journalists, do not edit this. Say it the way I’m saying it, that South Africans, henceforth, should leave Nigeria with all their businesses. Nigerian students are not joking about it, and we are giving a seven-day ultimatum,” he says.

The second clip shows an altercation between protesters at the South African High Commission in Abuja. 

“Nigerians are here in your commission, and you show more disrespect to Nigerian people…. We are not violent people like the South Africans,” says one of the lead protesters dressed in white.

The third clip of the video shows a TikTok commentator under the username “the_african.child,” who references Akpan’s statement and suggests that Nigerian student unions are already on the verge of reacting to the xenophobic attacks targeting Nigerian nationals in South Africa. 

“You know, Nigerians, Nigerians can allow you to fool yourself to the limit, but just pray that they don't give you attention,” he says, adding that “ I think this is a student union saying...it's time they're going to react, every South African should leave, and they have given them one week.”

Xenophobia in South Africa

Renewed anti-migrant protests and violent attacks across major South African cities have heightened tensions between South Africa and Nigeria, reviving concerns over the safety of the Nigerians living in the country (archived here). 

The current wave of unrest has been fuelled by anti-immigration groups such as Operation Dudula, which has called for undocumented foreigners to leave South Africa by June 30 (archived here). Dudula is the Zulu word for “push back”. 

Nigerian nationals have frequently been among those affected during previous outbreaks of xenophobic violence in South Africa (archived here).  

Similar events in 2008, 2015, and 2019 prompted diplomatic concerns and public protests in Nigeria, where some demonstrators retaliated by targeting South African-owned businesses such as MTN and Shoprite (archived here, here, and here).

However, no student body in Nigeria has issued an ultimatum to South African businesses to leave Nigeria.

2019 ultimatum 

Using Google Lens to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the footage, AFP Fact Check traced the original clip of Akpan threatening South African businesses operating in Nigeria to a YouTube video published on August 16, 2019, by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) (archived here).

“Nigerian students issue ultimatum to SA businesses,” reads the video’s title.

At the time, South Africa was experiencing a wave of anti-immigrant violence that affected foreign nationals and businesses, including Nigerians. The unrest left at least 10 people dead, resulted in hundreds of arrests,  and prompted about 600 Nigerians to seek repatriation (archived here). 

Further searches show that Akpan was impeached in October 2020, after a committee found him culpable of misappropriation, concealment of information, and abuse of office, in breach of the association’s code of conduct. He was subsequently succeeded by Chidi Ilogede (archived here).

As such, Akpan would therefore, not be speaking on behalf of the national student body in 2026.

On May 8, 2026, local publisher Vanguard reported that NANS condemned the fresh wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa (archived here).

According to the article, the student body’s current president, Olushola Oladoja, warned that the continued attacks on Nigerian professionals and students abroad could trigger severe diplomatic friction between the two countries (archived here).

"Nigeria deserves respect across the African continent, and the lives, dignity, and safety of Nigerians must never be treated with disregard anywhere in the world," Oladoja was quoted as saying. 

The organisation also urged the government to “strengthen engagement with South African authorities and ensure protection and justice for affected Nigerians”.

There is, however, no record of the student body issuing an ultimatum to South Africans living or operating businesses in Nigeria.

Advocacy group

AFP Fact Check also conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the second clip, and the result led to the longer version of the footage published on YouTube on May 1, 2026,  by a channel called Africal Insight Official (archived here). 

The video’s title reads: “Angry Nigerians Storm South African Embassy in Abuja! Xenophobia Crisis Explodes!”

In the video, the protesters identified themselves as members of the human rights advocacy campaign group Take It Back (TIB) movement, protesting the xenophobic attacks against African nationals in South Africa (archived here). 

TIB also published a clip from the protest on their X account on April 30, 2026 (archived here).

“Earlier today, comrades of the Take It Back Movement were at the South African High Commission in Abuja to protest the recurring xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa,” the post reads.

Sahara Reporters, owned by TIB’s founder Omoyele Sowore, also reported on the protest (archived here).

At no point in the original video do the protesters identify themselves as members of a student union or issue an ultimatum to South African businesses in Nigeria. 

False education claims

The commentator in the third clip regurgitates the false claims about Nigerian students issuing an ultimatum. He then gives his opinion on the protests, during which he claims that South African Zulus are involved in the anti-immigrant protests because “they have no education”.

The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group in South Africa, accounting for more than 24% of the population (archived here). 

While some protesters have been seen wearing traditional Zulu attire, the claim that Zulus lack education is an unfounded and discriminatory stereotype (archived here). 

Afrobarometer survey data confirms that anti-immigrant sentiment in the country is driven by economic concerns such as unemployment, and cuts across all educational and linguistic lines, rather than being concentrated within a single community (archived here). 

Official national statistics further disprove the claim. Approximately nine out of ten South Africans have attended secondary school. Statistics South Africa also reports that basic school attendance among children aged 7 to 15 remains above 97% across all provinces, including in Zulu-majority regions (archived here).