Xenophobia: FG Resumes South Africa Evacuation, 271 More Nigerians Due Home Tuesday

The Federal Government has resumed the evacuation of Nigerians from South Africa, with 271 more citizens expected to arrive in Lagos on Tuesday as part of the ongoing voluntary repatriation programme prompted by renewed anti-immigration tensions in the country.

An Air Peace aircraft is scheduled to depart Nigeria at 3:00 p.m. on Monday for Johannesburg before returning at midnight with the latest batch of evacuees.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, disclosed the development in a statement, saying the return flight is expected to land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning.

The latest evacuation is a continuation of the Federal Government’s repatriation exercise launched earlier this month after anti-immigration groups in South Africa issued threats against undocumented foreign nationals and called on them to leave the country before June 30.

The exercise began on June 11 when the first batch of 262 Nigerians returned to Lagos aboard an Air Peace flight. A second batch of 66 Nigerians was evacuated on June 25, bringing the total number of returnees before Monday’s operation to 328. More than 1,000 Nigerians have registered for voluntary evacuation since the exercise commenced.

President Bola Tinubu had earlier approved five evacuation flights after over 500 Nigerians were screened by officials of the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria, with the screening later extended to accommodate more citizens seeking to return home.

Although South African authorities have condemned the threats and deployed security personnel to maintain law and order, concerns over possible xenophobic attacks have continued to drive the voluntary return of foreign nationals.

Confirming the latest operation, Ebienfa said: “Nigeria will resume the evacuation of our nationals from South Africa today.”

He explained that the exercise is aimed at ensuring the safety of Nigerians who voluntarily opted to return home amid the prevailing security concerns in South Africa.