Another 271 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning, under the Federal Government’s ongoing voluntary repatriation programme following weeks of anti-immigration protests and xenophobic tensions in the country.
The returnees were airlifted aboard an Air Peace flight, which departed Johannesburg at about 5 a.m. local time and landed in Lagos shortly before 11 a.m.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) received the evacuees on arrival.
The latest evacuation formed part of the Federal Government’s efforts to assist Nigerians who have voluntarily opted to return home amid growing anti-immigration sentiment in South Africa.
The repatriation exercise followed increasing tensions in the country, including a June 30 unofficial ultimatum reportedly issued by some vigilante groups and organisations calling for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier approved the voluntary evacuation initiative to ensure the safe return of Nigerians willing to leave the country.
Earlier this month, the Federal Government announced that five Air Peace evacuation flights had been approved after more than 500 Nigerians were screened for repatriation. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the flights were aimed at evacuating all registered Nigerians who expressed a desire to return home.
Prior to Tuesday’s operation, 328 Nigerians had already been brought back in two batches. The first group of 262 returnees arrived on June 11, while a second batch of 66 landed in Lagos on June 25.
With the arrival of the latest batch, the total number of Nigerians repatriated from South Africa under the current programme has risen to 599.
