•As 313 arrive today
By Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The federal government has revealed that the second batch of Nigerians who are 327 in number would be evacuated from South Africa on Thursday or Friday following the recent xenophobic attacks.
A senior staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, in a short statement issued on Wednesday also revealed that 313 Nigerian national were ready for evacuation Wednesday.
He said that Air Peace aircraft would depart Johannesburg at 9:00 a.m local time Wednesday, while the expected time of arrival in Lagos is 2p.m local time.
Ebienfa noted that the returnees would be received on arrival by senior officials of the ministry.
He said, “313 Nigerian Nationals ready for evacuation today. 640 registered. Second batch to be evacuated on Thursday or Friday.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama will lead Nigerian delegation to ministerial meeting of extraordinary summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and government on fight against terrorism.
A statement issued on Wednesday by the Spokesperson of the ministry, Ferdinand Nwonye, said that the theme of the extraordinary summit is “Fight Against Terrorism.”
He said, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja wishes to inform that, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, will lead Nigerian delegation to the ministerial meeting of the extraordinary summit of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government scheduled for Thursday 12th September 2019 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.”
Nwonye stressed that President Muhammadu Buhari would attend the summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on Saturday.
