Lagos welcomes home 271 Nigerian nationals repatriated from South Africa

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Another batch of 271 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrived in Lagos on Tuesday under the Federal Government’s voluntary repatriation programme.

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The Air Peace flight landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport shortly before 11 a.m. after departing Johannesburg at about 5 a.m. local time.

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Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission received the returnees on arrival.

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The latest evacuation is part of the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to assist Nigerians who have opted to return home amid rising anti-immigration tensions in South Africa.

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The repatriation comes ahead of a June 30 deadline reportedly issued by vigilante groups and other organisations calling for undocumented migrants to leave the country.

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Earlier this month, President Bola Tinubu approved the voluntary evacuation programme for Nigerians willing to return home from South Africa.

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also announced that five Air Peace evacuation flights were approved after more than 500 Nigerians registered for repatriation.

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Before Tuesday’s operation, 328 Nigerians had already been evacuated in two batches. The first flight returned 262 Nigerians on June 11, while a second batch of 66 arrived in Lagos on June 25.

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In a statement on Monday, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, confirmed that an Air Peace aircraft would depart Nigeria at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, June 29, 2026, and leave South Africa with the latest batch of evacuees at about 12:00 midnight South African time.

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“The return flight is scheduled to depart South Africa at 12:00 midnight and is expected to arrive at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning. This will bring home 271 additional Nigerians who have volunteered to return,” Ebienfa said, adding that 700 more would be evacuated, depending on the situation on ground in South Africa.

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Corroborating him, Air Peace spokesperson, Mr Efe Osifo-Whiskey, said the airline was set to evacuate 271 Nigerians, but said the flight was yet to leave Nigeria as at 3:50pm yesterday due to inexplicable delays.

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“The aircraft has not departed yet. They will let me know when it is time, but I do not know the reason for the delay. We are looking at evacuating 271 people, but let us see what happens when they arrive in Lagos.”

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Meanwhile, security was heightened across parts of South Africa on Tuesday as police maintained a visible presence in major cities following anti-immigration demonstrations.

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In Johannesburg, many businesses remained closed and security personnel were deployed across parts of the city as commuters went about their daily activities.

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The protests were organised by a coalition of small political parties and citizen-led vigilante groups demanding the removal of undocumented migrants.

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In Durban, groups of protesters dressed in traditional Zulu attire gathered in a public park, singing and chanting “Abahambe” (“Let them go”) while security operatives monitored the situation.

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