South African Grammy-winning singer Tyla has removed Lagos from the schedule of her APOP World Tour, following widespread backlash and calls for a boycott over renewed xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

A review of Tyla's official tour schedule on Friday confirmed that the December 22 Lagos concert, previously announced as the Nigerian leg of the tour, is no longer listed. The updated itinerary still features performances across Europe, North America and South Africa, but excludes Nigeria.

The singer had earlier unveiled the world tour with Lagos as its only Nigerian stop before concluding with shows in Cape Town on January 4 and Johannesburg on January 9.

The announcement sparked intense debate on social media, with many Nigerians urging organisers to cancel the concert in protest against the continued attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa. While some argued that South African entertainers should not perform in Nigeria until the violence ends, others insisted that musicians should not be blamed for political or social tensions.

The controversy escalated on Thursday after social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), threatened to mobilise members of his Ratel Movement to prevent the concert from taking place.

In a statement shared on his Facebook page, VDM declared that Tyla's show "will not be happening in Nigeria," saying the campaign was intended to protest xenophobic attacks on other Africans living in South Africa and to pressure South African celebrities to publicly condemn the violence.

However, Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, opposed the boycott campaign, arguing that Tyla should not be held responsible for xenophobic attacks.

Sowore urged Nigerians to channel their anger toward those directly responsible for the violence rather than the singer, maintaining that her Lagos concert should have gone ahead.

The removal of Lagos from the tour schedule comes amid renewed concerns over the safety of Nigerians in South Africa, following reports of fresh xenophobic attacks and the killing of Nigerian national Chika Ibe in Cape Town.

As of the time of filing this report, neither Tyla nor her management has explained why the Lagos concert was removed from the tour schedule. The concert promoters have also not announced whether the show has been cancelled or postponed.