The Federal Government has postponed the planned repatriation of Nigerian citizens from South Africa to Wednesday, citing “unforeseen logistical considerations.”
Naija News reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earlier scheduled the evacuation flight for Monday but later rescheduled it. The ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, disclosed this in a brief statement to journalists on Monday, without providing further details on the reasons behind the shift.
As of the time of filing this report, it remains unclear whether the returnees will arrive in Abuja or Lagos, as well as the number of Nigerians expected in the first batch.
Sources, however, indicate that the repatriation flight will be operated by Air Peace, although the airline and the ministry have yet to confirm the exact time of departure on Wednesday.
The development follows a screening exercise involving over 1,000 Nigerians residing in South Africa, which commenced last Thursday and was scheduled to conclude on Saturday. The exercise forms part of preparations for their evacuation amid rising cases of xenophobic violence in the host country.
Nigeria’s High Commission in Pretoria had earlier announced that it secured waivers from South African authorities to allow citizens with immigration-related offences to depart through the repatriation process instead of facing detention.
The move comes barely two weeks after Ghana repatriated nearly 300 of its citizens from South Africa, representing the first batch of about 800 nationals who registered for evacuation.
Ebienfa noted that although Nigeria submitted its list ahead of Ghana, the latter was given priority for the initial evacuation process.
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