The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that four more repatriation flights will bring back Nigerians who have indicated interest in returning home from South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks.
This was disclosed by Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesperson of the ministry, shortly after the first batch of 258 evacuees arrived at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos on Thursday morning.
According to him, over 1,000 Nigerians participated in the screening exercise, although Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, noted that “the figures keep increasing”.
The screening process for affected Nigerians in South Africa commenced last Thursday and was initially expected to end on Saturday.
However, Ebienfa told journalists that the exercise has now been extended to Sunday “just to give more Nigerians the opportunity to be screened so that they will take advantage of this flight that Mr. President has graciously paid for to convey them back home”.
He added that the federal government has funded a total of five evacuation flights.
“This is the first one, so subsequent flights will be arriving from next week,” he said, adding that the next arrival is expected on Monday.
Ebienfa further explained that the returnees would be temporarily accommodated in a facility managed by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) for documentation before being reunited with their families across different states.
He also stated that Nigeria would continue diplomatic engagements with South Africa to help improve relations between both countries.