South African singer Tyla has yanked Lagos off as one of the stops on her upcoming ‘A*POP’ World Tour after it triggered calls for a boycott over renewed xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.
As earlier reported by Eelive.ng, the Grammy-winning singer unveiled the tour dates on July 27, which will begin on October 12 and will take her across 11 countries, including England, the United States, Nigeria, Germany and South Africa.
However, the announcement sparked heated reactions on social media, with many Nigerians calling for a boycott of the concert over renewed xenophobic attacks against Nigerians and other foreign nationals in South Africa.
Media personality Do2dtun, who was among the first people to criticise the planned concert, recalled the backlash Burna Boy faced in South Africa over his comments on xenophobia and questioned why Nigerians should embrace South African artists despite repeated attacks on their citizens.
Reality TV star Pere Egbi also weighed in, urging the Nigeria Immigration Service to deny Tyla and her team entry visas.
“Nigerian @nigimmigration, we are collectively imploring you to intentionally deny Tyla and her team visas as well. They can’t do this to our own, and we welcome their own. Madness must match madness,” he wrote on X.
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Also, Activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, threatened to mobilise members of his “Ratel Movement” to stop the concert if it went ahead.
In a post on his Facebook page, Otse wrote, “TYLA SHOW WILL NOT BE HAPPENING IN NIGERIA.
“This is a message to SOUTH AFRICANS. WE ARE AFRICANS AND WE DONT UNALIVE OUR OWN, since you people have taken it upon yourselves to unalive other Africans because according to you guys other African nationalities living in South Africa are taking your jobs.
“WE ARE STANDING IN SOLIDARITY TO SAY NO TO THE PROMOTERS AND CELEBRITIES FROM SOUTH AFRICA WHO HAVE REFUSED TO SPEAK UP AGAINST THESE ATTACKS ON OTHER AFRICANS LIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA.
“#NOTOXENOPHOBICATTACKS #ratelmovement SAYNOTOXENOPHOBICATTACKS.”
Following the outrage, checks on Tyla’s official tour website on Friday showed that the Lagos stop, which was previously listed for December 22, had been removed from the itinerary.
The updated schedule retains all previously announced dates across Europe, North America and South Africa, but no longer includes Nigeria.
The removal of Lagos from the tour schedule comes amid renewed concerns over the treatment of Nigerians in South Africa following reports of alleged xenophobic attacks and the death of Nigerian nationals, including one Chika Ibe in Cape Town.
