More Nigerians return home as fourth South Africa evacuation flight lands

The Federal Government has successfully evacuated 1,141 Nigerians from South Africa following the arrival of its fourth repatriation flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

The latest evacuation, operated by Air Peace, arrived on Thursday night with 282 returnees on board, bringing the total number of Nigerians repatriated since the exercise commenced on June 11 to 1,141.

The evacuation programme was launched in response to growing concerns over the safety of Nigerians in South Africa following renewed reports of xenophobic attacks. More than 1,000 Nigerians had earlier registered their interest in returning home.

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Ahead of the latest flight, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, urged stranded Nigerians to take advantage of the government’s evacuation exercise.

Her appeal came after reports confirmed the deaths of two additional Nigerians in South Africa, raising the official death toll linked to the recent wave of xenophobic violence to four. However, some of the returnees have claimed that the actual number of casualties may be higher.

Despite an unofficial June 30 deadline reportedly issued by some South African rights groups for undocumented migrants to leave the country, the Nigerian government’s evacuation programme has continued.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu assured Nigerians that no citizen who had expressed a willingness to return home would be left behind during the evacuation exercise.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, disclosed that the fifth and final evacuation flight is scheduled to arrive in Nigeria next week, marking the conclusion of the government’s repatriation programme.