Another batch of Nigerians evacuated from South Africa has arrived in Lagos as part of the Federal Government’s voluntary repatriation programme. An Air Peace flight carrying about 271 evacuees landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday after departing Johannesburg earlier in the day.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission received the returnees. The evacuation follows rising anti-immigration tensions in South Africa and a June 30 deadline declared by some vigilante groups and organisations calling for undocumented migrants to leave the country.
President Bola Tinubu approved the evacuation programme earlier this month. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced five Air Peace evacuation flights after more than 500 Nigerians registered to return home voluntarily.
Before Tuesday’s operation, 328 Nigerians had already been repatriated in two batches, with 262 arriving on June 11 and another 66 returning on June 25. The Federal Government says the exercise is being coordinated with Air Peace and other relevant agencies.
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