Xenophobia: FG Continues Evacuation, Airlifts Another 268 Nigerians from South Africa

Chinedu Eze 

The federal government has evacuated another batch of Nigerians numbering 268 from South Africa in midst of ongoing anti-migrant hostility against Africans from other nationals.

The returnees arrived safely at the Cargo/Hajj Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, yesterday.

Since June 11, 2026, the federal government has continued to bring home citizens affected by the hostilities in South Africa, where the indigenes insisted that other Africans living in their country must leave, disguising their hostility as war against illegal immigrants but the attack is on everyone from Africa, including those with legal immigration documents.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, confirmed that the Air Peace charter flight conveyed 268 returnees, alongside two officers and crew members, from Johannesburg to Lagos.

According to the minister, the special flight, funded by the federal government, departed Oliver Tambo International Airport at 5:36a.m.

In a statement posted on her X handle, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said President Bola Tinubu had directed that the evacuation exercise should continue despite the expiration of the June 30 ultimatum issued by anti-migrant groups in South Africa.

“The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has directed that the evacuation of Nigerian nationals from South Africa at risk as a result of the ongoing xenophobic protests and attacks continues, even after the deadline of 30th June 2026,” she said.

She noted that three earlier evacuation flights had already brought home nearly 600 Nigerians before the deadline, adding that the exercise remains ongoing for all citizens who voluntarily registered and were duly screened.

“The evacuations remain ongoing. The federal government is committed to bringing home safely our Nationals who voluntarily registered to be evacuated and have been duly screened and cleared,” she said.

She reiterated that protecting Nigerians abroad remains a key priority of the Tinubu administration.

“Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in adherence to that unbreakable bond between citizen and state, remains dedicated to this mandate; a central pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” the minister stated.

The evacuation comes as anti-immigrant protests intensified across South Africa, where demonstrators have demanded the departure of all African immigrants, blaming them for unemployment and pressure on public services.

The latest wave of violence has reportedly claimed at least four lives, while several African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, have organised voluntary repatriation for their citizens.

The Nigerian government has also indicated plans to engage South African authorities on compensation for businesses and properties abandoned by affected Nigerians.

Reacting to the 30 June protest by March on March, the group spearheading the Africans must go campaign in South Africa, the South Africa President, Cyril Ramaphosa, told journalists that the protesters were exercising their fundamental human rights as enshrined in the South African constitution.