The Federal Government has announced that its third official repatriation flight for Nigerians who voluntarily opted to leave South Africa will arrive in Lagos on Friday.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement issued on Thursday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the Air Peace-operated flight is expected to land early Friday morning with 271 Nigerians on board.
Although Friday’s flight represents the fourth batch of returnees from South Africa, it is regarded as the government’s third official repatriation exercise. The first official batch arrived on June 11 aboard an Air Peace flight.
Ebienfa explained that logistical challenges delayed the ministry’s second evacuation flight, prompting the evacuation of 66 Nigerians on June 25 through an initiative by Kunle Soname, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ValueJet.
The ministry’s second official evacuation flight later arrived on June 30 with 269 Nigerians, bringing the total number of returnees so far to 593.
According to Ebienfa, the government has scheduled three additional evacuation flights in the coming days to ensure that all Nigerians who voluntarily registered for repatriation and have been screened and cleared are safely returned home.
While more than 1,000 Nigerians initially indicated interest in returning, the ministry said about 700 citizens are now expected to be repatriated.
The Foreign Ministry also dismissed allegations that returnees were being extorted, stressing that all evacuation flights have been fully funded by the Federal Government.
“All the evacuation flights have been fully paid for by the Federal Government and at no cost to the returnees,” Ebienfa said.
