A new batch of 83 Nigerian nationals will be evacuated from South Africa today following continued Xenophobia in the country.

This latest repatriation was made possible through the intervention of public-spirited private individuals, a group of business friends who collectively sponsored the returnees' air tickets.

The returnees are scheduled to depart Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, at 3:35 p.m. local time and are expected to arrive at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at approximately 8:45 p.m. today.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commends this group of individuals for complementing the government's efforts and for their “whole of society approach” to addressing this crisis.

This same group has also committed to evacuating a second batch of Nigerians who no longer feel safe in South Africa and have expressed a wish to return to Nigeria.

The latest returnees add to the 1,490 Nigerians previously repatriated from South Africa under the government’s voluntary repatriation programme, undertaken amidst concerns over Xenophobic attacks and anti-foreigner sentiments in South Africa, in the process of which some Nigerian Nationals lost their lives and many lost property.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, expressed the government's commitment to protecting Nigerian citizens abroad under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Citizen Diplomacy agenda.

"We therefore call on State Governments to complement the Federal Government's efforts towards ensuring that no citizen at risk abroad is abandoned to an uncertain fate, by assisting in evacuation or in cushioning the difficult process of relocation and resettlement of their returning indigenes.

"In the batch of returnees arriving today are Nigerian Nationals from Anambra, Ondo, Imo, Oyo, Enugu, Ekiti, Abia, Osun, Delta, Kwara, Ogun and Ekiti States.

"We thank the state governments of IMO, which has commenced the disbursement of one million Naira each to returning indigenes, ABIA, which has approved the immediate disbursement of N1,000,000 each to 31 verified SA returnees of Abia State extraction as well as the Government of ENUGU State for their commitments towards assisting in the evacuation of stranded indigenes.
We urge other State Governments to follow suit and complement the Federal Government's emergency efforts by coming to the aid of their stranded indigenes and their returnees in this time of need.

"We also thank other well-meaning Nigerian individuals and groups, home and abroad for their support efforts in responding to and assisting Nigerian Nationals facing emergencies overseas. The Nation appreciates your altruism and your patriotism," she said.

ASA