SAPS denies allegation that officers killed Nigerian man in custody

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has rejected social media reports that its members killed a Nigerian national while he was in custody, calling the reports “misleading information.”

Who died and when

Nigerian authorities identified the man as Emeka Charles Iroegbu, who died on 28 June shortly after he was arrested by the SAPS Tshwane Drugs team on an allegation of possession of drugs.

Claims from Nigeria and SAPS response

The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused South African police of killing Iroegbu and another Nigerian national in Pretoria. In a statement on 5 July, Nigerian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa said:

“The government of Nigeria strongly condemns the recent killing of two Nigerian nationals in South Africa. One victim, Emeka Charles Iroegbu, was reportedly killed by Tshwane Metro Police officers on 28 June 2026 in Sunnyside, Pretoria, using gruesome interrogation techniques,”

SAPS disputed those allegations, saying the suspect “collapsed while officers were taking him into custody.” The service said the man had been handcuffed during the arrest, officers called for medical assistance immediately, and paramedics who attended the scene declared him dead.

Investigations and evidence handling

Because the death occurred in police custody, SAPS reported the matter to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid). SAPS said it opened an inquest case and a case of possession of drugs. The police also booked the drugs allegedly found at the scene into the SAPS 13 store as evidence.

SAPS added that “SAPS detectives and an Ipid investigator attended the postmortem examination” and that it was decided the police would continue to investigate the case “pending the postmortem results.”

Denial of links to anti-immigrant protests

SAPS also dismissed attempts to connect the death to anti-illegal immigration protests. In its statement the service said:

“SAPS strongly rejects attempts to link this incident to anti-illegal immigrant protests. Such claims are baseless and an attempt to mislead the public,”

and described the social media reports as misleading information.

Reporting on the incident, SAPS confirmed the actions taken and said the matter is subject to ongoing investigation pending the outcome of the postmortem examination.