The last batch of Nigerians evacuated from South Africa following renewed xenophobic tensions has arrived in Lagos, bringing the Federal Government’s evacuation exercise to a close.
The returnees were transported by an Air Peace flight, which touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at approximately 11:28 a.m. on Wednesday.
The evacuation marked the completion of the government’s initiative to assist Nigerians who requested to return home due to rising security concerns and xenophobic attacks in parts of South Africa.
Before the final flight, the Federal Government had carried out several evacuation operations to bring stranded citizens back to Nigeria as fears over their safety continued to grow.
Air Peace played a key role throughout the operation by operating multiple evacuation flights between South Africa and Lagos. The latest arrival officially concluded the exercise.
Earlier, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) confirmed the arrival of another group of 40 returnees on a chartered flight.
NiDCOM’s Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, disclosed that the total number of Nigerians evacuated had reached 1,174 at that stage.
According to the commission, four Air Peace flights transported 258, 266, 262 and 282 Nigerians respectively, while a ValueJet aircraft repatriated an additional 66 citizens.