Nigeria vs South Africa: the real story behind that citizen's death is ugly

I saw the news earlier this week, Tuesday July 7, that Nigeria is accusing South Africa of xenophobia killing one of our citizens. But the South African police are telling a completely different story. They say the man was killed during a robbery attempt, not a hate crime. Now both governments are exchanging words and the family is left without closure.

I have followed this Nigeria-South Africa tension for years. Every time something happens, we are quick to cry xenophobia without waiting for the full investigation. I am not saying South Africans have not attacked our people before. They have. But this particular case, the police say the evidence points to common criminality. If we keep shouting xenophobia for every death, we dilute the real meaning of the word. We make it harder for genuine victims to get justice.

The problem is our government. They want a diplomatic fight without doing the hard work of verifying facts. They want to look strong on Twitter while the family of the dead man is still waiting for answers. I am tired of this pattern. Let us demand that our embassy in Pretoria do proper investigation before we call for protests. Be honest: are we helping our citizens by jumping to conclusions, or are we just using their death for political points?