Lagos — Twelve Nigerians who were left behind after the last Federal Government evacuation flight from South Africa have arrived in Lagos, after a Johannesburg-based professional group paid for their tickets.
The group — ten adults and two children from Ogun, Anambra, Ondo, Imo, Edo and Oyo States — landed at Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 8.30pm on Tuesday, 9 September. They had been stranded and destitute and were unable to board the previous government-sponsored flight out of South Africa.
The tickets were purchased by the Group of Nigerian Professionals Johannesburg (GNPJ), with assistance from Mr C. Darl Uzu. Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, thanked both for helping nationals who were stranded and desperate to return home after xenophobic incidents in South Africa.
“The joy of coming home,” she wrote in an official update, commending ordinary citizens, groups, associations and religious bodies who have come to the aid of fellow Nigerians who are imperilled.
“Every little bit helps. This is what it means to be our brothers’ (and sisters’) keepers.”
She again urged state governments that have not yet done so to assist their own indigenes still seeking to leave. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working with the embassy in Pretoria and the consulate in Johannesburg, remains committed to the safe, orderly and dignified repatriation of the remaining stranded and destitute Nigerians in South Africa.
The small private airlift is the latest in a months-long effort that began in June after a new wave of anti-migrant protests and attacks. President Bola Tinubu ordered government-funded charter flights, operated mainly by Air Peace, after campaigners in South Africa set unofficial deadlines for undocumented foreigners to leave. The first large batch of more than 260 Nigerians arrived in Lagos on 11 June. Subsequent flights and privately funded tickets have since brought the total number of returnees to well over 1,600.
Officials have repeatedly said the returns are voluntary. Many of those leaving reported shops looted, livelihoods destroyed and a fear that they could no longer be protected. Other African governments, including Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, have also flown citizens home.
Diplomatic relations have deteriorated alongside the violence. Nigeria’s National Assembly on Friday suspended official visits to South Africa and resolved to boycott legislative events hosted by Pretoria until further notice, citing reports of Nigerians killed, injured, displaced or forced to abandon businesses and homes.
Abuja has combined official flights with appeals to churches, professional associations and wealthy individuals. The Redeemed Christian Church of God, among others, has previously funded large groups of returnees. Thursday’s statement treats the GNPJ intervention in the same vein: a modest contribution that still matters while hundreds of destitute nationals remain.
The ministry says co-ordination with the Pretoria embassy and Johannesburg consulate will continue until those who wish to leave can do so with dignity.
By John James
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