The federal fovernment has confirmed that the last evacuation flight bringing stranded Nigerians home from South Africa will arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Wednesday, bringing the emergency repatriation exercise to a close.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, stating that the Air Peace flight departed Johannesburg at 1:30 a.m. with 315 Nigerians on board and is expected to touch down in Lagos at about 6:30 a.m.
According to the ministry, the flight represents the fifth evacuation operation and the seventh batch of returnees since the federal government launched the repatriation programme following renewed xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
The ministry noted that more than 1,000 Nigerians had registered for voluntary evacuation. Before the final flight, 1,141 citizens had already been repatriated, including 282 who arrived on the fourth evacuation flight on July 9.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, had earlier appealed to Nigerians still in South Africa to take advantage of the evacuation exercise, assuring that every citizen willing to return home would be accommodated.
Her appeal followed reports that two more Nigerians were killed during the latest wave of anti-foreigner violence, bringing the officially confirmed death toll to four, although some returnees claimed the actual number of fatalities could be higher.
The federal government reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding the lives and welfare of Nigerians living abroad, stressing that all citizens who registered for the evacuation programme would be successfully returned home.
