LAGOS – A fresh batch of 271 Nigerian nationals arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos on Tuesday morning, fleeing targeted anti-immigrant hostility and an aggressive, citizen-led expulsion campaign in South Africa.
The evacuation flight, operated by Air Peace, touched down at the Lagos cargo terminal at exactly 10:54 a.m. after departing Johannesburg earlier in the day.
Fleeing the Midnight Deadline
The repatriation coincided directly with a tense June 30 deadline imposed by South African vigilante groups and citizen-led movements—including Operation Dudula—demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country. As protesters clad in traditional Zulu attire marched through major cities like Durban and Johannesburg chanting anti-immigrant slogans, businesses shuttered and heavy police deployments fanned out to prevent widespread looting and violence.
Alarmed by the brewing hostility, President Bola Tinubu approved the emergency voluntary evacuation initiative earlier this month, establishing a fully funded pipeline to bring vulnerable citizens home safely.
The Breakdown of the Return
Tuesday’s arrival marks the third and largest wave of returns since the emergency airlift began:
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- June 11 (First Batch): 262 Nigerians returned safely.
- June 25 (Second Batch): 66 Nigerians repatriated.
- **June 30 (Third Batch): 271 Nigerians arrived today.
To date, a total of 599 Nigerians have been successfully evacuated out of the five initially scheduled Air Peace flights approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
”The Federal Government, through its respective agencies, has put comprehensive reception, profiling, and welfare arrangements in place to assist the returnees before they are safely reunited with their families,” stated Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Officials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) were on the ground at the tarmac to receive, profile, and offer immediate humanitarian relief to the visibly shaken returnees. Meanwhile, diplomatic sources indicate that the Nigerian government intends to formally seek compensation for citizens who lost livelihoods and assets during the crisis.
