Another group of 271 Nigerians has returned from South Africa under the Federal Government’s voluntary evacuation programme.
The evacuees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday aboard an Air Peace flight that departed Johannesburg at about 5 a.m. local time and landed 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) were on ground to receive the returnees.
The latest evacuation is part of the government’s ongoing initiative to assist Nigerians who have chosen to leave South Africa amid increasing anti-immigration tensions.
The repatriation exercise comes ahead of a June 30 deadline reportedly issued by vigilante groups and other organisations calling on undocumented migrants to leave the country.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier approved the voluntary evacuation programme after requests from Nigerians seeking to return home.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also disclosed that five Air Peace flights were approved for the operation following the registration of more than 500 Nigerians.
With the latest arrival, the total number of Nigerians evacuated from South Africa has risen to 599. The first batch of 262 arrived on June 11, followed by 66 returnees on June 25.
