The Federal Government’s final evacuation flight for Nigerians stranded in South Africa is expected to arrive in Lagos on Wednesday, bringing home 315 more citizens amid ongoing concerns over xenophobic violence in the country.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Air Peace-operated flight departed Johannesburg at about 1:30 a.m. and is scheduled to land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos by 6:30 a.m.
The flight marks the fifth evacuation operation organised by the Federal Government and the seventh batch of Nigerians being repatriated from South Africa since the exercise began.
According to the ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, more than 1,000 Nigerians had registered their interest in returning home following the recent wave of xenophobic attacks.
The previous evacuation flight arrived in Nigeria on 9 July with 282 returnees, bringing the total number of Nigerians repatriated before Wednesday’s flight to 1,141.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, had earlier urged Nigerians still in South Africa to take advantage of the government’s evacuation programme and return home if they wished.
Her appeal came after reports confirmed the deaths of two additional Nigerians in South Africa, raising the official death toll from the latest attacks to four, although some returnees have claimed the number of casualties could be higher.
The minister assured that the Federal Government remains committed to ensuring that every Nigerian who indicated an interest in returning home would be evacuated safely and not left behind.
