Under siege in Nigeria, South African businesses shut stores

A police office removes burning tires from the road, as protesters set up fires to block traffic along Airport Road in Abuja, Nigeria September 4, 2019.

South African companies MTN and Shoprite closed stores in Nigeria on Wednesday in the face of attacks targeting their premises in retaliation to similar violence in their home country.

Nigeria’s vice president is also boycotting an economic forum in Cape Town on boosting intra-African trade, the country’s foreign minister said, after days of rioting in South Africa aimed at foreign-owned businesses.