FG Brings Home Third Batch Of Nigerians From South Africa

A third batch of Nigerians evacuated from South Africa landed in Lagos on Tuesday, as the Federal Government pressed ahead with a voluntary repatriation programme ahead of anti-immigrant protests that began the same day.

The Air Peace flight, carrying about 271 returnees, touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport shortly before 11am, having left Johannesburg in the early hours of the morning.

Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) were on ground to receive and document the arrivals.

The flight forms part of a five-flight evacuation programme approved by President Bola Tinubu earlier in June after more than 1,000 Nigerians in South Africa registered for the exercise, which is being coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with Air Peace.

Two earlier batches, comprising 268 evacuees who arrived on 11 June and 66 more who landed on 25 June, brought the total number repatriated before Tuesday’s flight to 334.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Kimiebi Ebienfa said the latest aircraft departed Nigeria at 3pm on Monday and left South Africa shortly after midnight, with roughly 700 more Nigerians expected to be evacuated depending on developments on the ground.

The exercise comes against a backdrop of mounting tension in South Africa, where vigilante and anti-immigrant groups had set 30 June as a deadline for undocumented migrants to leave the country.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu said the evacuation of willing Nigerians would continue beyond the deadline to ensure that no citizen wishing to return home is left behind.

She also urged Nigerians remaining in South Africa to stay calm, avoid areas where protests are expected, and remain in regular contact with the Nigerian High Commission for security updates.