Nigeria pledged to "work as brothers" with Pretoria on Thursday, after recent anti-migrant violence in South Africa sparked diplomatic tensions between the continent's two leading nations.

"Nigeria does not seek an escalation of the ongoing situation," a senior aide to Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"We will work with South Africa to find solutions to their problems which have become our own problem. We will work as brothers," the aide said.