First Batch of 268 Evacuees From South Africa Arrive Nigeria

The first batch of Nigerians evacuated from South Africa has arrived in Lagos following renewed xenophobic attacks targeting African migrants in the country.

The evacuees, numbering over 200 Nigerians, three government officials and crew members of Air Peace, departed Johannesburg after being repatriated due to growing safety concerns linked to the attacks.

Security agencies, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), FAAN officials are on ground for through documentation and profiling procedures of evacuated Nigerians.

Top government officials, including the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), and the Commissioner for Migrants and Refugees, were on ground to receive them and assure them of support and reintegration assistance.

Earlier the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the evacuation was necessitated by violent incidents that forced many Nigerians to seek urgent relocation over fears for their safety.

She explained that the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, was at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos to receive the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu noted that she was unable to attend the reception as she was currently in Addis Ababa, where she is holding discussions aimed at facilitating the transfer of more than 100 Nigerian prisoners from Ethiopian correctional facilities back to Nigeria.

According to her, the affected prisoners are currently held in Kaliti and Aba Samuel prisons in Addis Ababa, adding that four Nigerians have died in custody due to health and other related complications.