First batch of repatriated Nigerians land Lagos from South Africa

The first batch of more than 260 Nigerian nationals evacuated from South Africa landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Thursday morning, marking the start of a multi-phase humanitarian airlift prompted by a severe resurgence of anti-immigrant violence.

The returnees arrived aboard a chartered Air Peace flight which departed Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport on Wednesday night. The emergency operation follows weeks of heightened diplomatic tensions between Pretoria and Abuja, sparked by looting, displacement, and targeted attacks against foreign business owners in several South African metropolitan areas.

“Upon arrival, the evacuees will undergo documentation and profiling procedures and will receive the appropriate assistance and support before being reunited with their families,” Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in an official statement detailing the reception protocols managed by federal emergency agencies.

The repatriation brings an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu to bilateral relations between West and South Africa’s dominant economic powerhouses.

The emergency evacuation serves as an almost identical rerun of the 2019 diplomatic crisis, when more than 500 Nigerians were similarly flown home following a violent wave of xenophobic riots in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Despite repeated high-level bilateral commissions and security agreements signed between successive administrations in Abuja and Pretoria, anti-foreigner sentiment has remained a volatile, recurring undercurrent in South African politics, often fueled by local economic anxieties, high unemployment rates, and systemic labor friction.

The current evacuation was originally scheduled to depart earlier in the week but suffered delays as diplomats scrambled to clear bureaucratic hurdles.

Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, clarified that the initial timeline shifted because “additional time was required to conclude documentation and screening processes being carried out in collaboration with South African authorities”.

Diplomatic officials indicate that this first flight represents only the fraction of an expanding humanitarian corridor. More than 1,000 Nigerians residing across South Africa have already signed up for the voluntary repatriation scheme as local safety conditions continue to deteriorate.

To accommodate the influx of applications, Nigeria’s High Commission in Pretoria extended its mandatory registration and screening window until June 14, 2026.

The returning citizens were accompanied on the aircraft by Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, who formally handed the evacuees over to domestic transit authorities upon arrival in Lagos. State officials affirmed that the federal government is coordinating with reintegration agencies to assist the returnees with temporary accommodation and other support services to assist them return to their respective home states.