By Chinedu Echianu
The evacuees were flown home aboard an Air Peace aircraft, which landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, shortly before 11 a.m. after departing Johannesburg in the early hours of Tuesday.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) received the returnees on arrival.
The latest evacuation is part of the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to assist Nigerians who have chosen to return home amid rising anti-immigration tensions in South Africa.
The exercise comes ahead of a June 30 deadline reportedly issued by some vigilante groups and organisations calling for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa.
Earlier this month, President Bola Tinubu approved a voluntary evacuation programme for Nigerians willing to return, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that five Air Peace evacuation flights had been approved after more than 500 Nigerians registered for repatriation.
Before Tuesday’s operation, 328 Nigerians had already returned in two batches. The first group of 262 evacuees arrived on June 11, while a second batch of 66 landed in Lagos on June 25.
Confirming the latest evacuation on Monday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the Air Peace flight was expected to bring home an additional 271 Nigerians.
“The return flight is scheduled to depart South Africa at 12:00 midnight and is expected to arrive at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning. This will bring home 271 additional Nigerians who have volunteered to return,” Ebienfa said.
He added that plans were underway to evacuate about 700 more Nigerians, depending on developments on the ground in South Africa.
Air Peace spokesperson, Efe Osifo-Whiskey, had earlier confirmed the planned evacuation but disclosed that the outbound flight from Nigeria experienced delays before departure.
