Another batch of 65 returnees is expected back home from South Africa today.
The number takes the total figure of Nigerians evacuated as a result of xenophobic attacks in the former apartheid enclave since June to 1,638.
Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement yesterday by its spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, that the returnees would arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 8.45 pm.
The statement reads: ‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform that another set of 65 Nigerian nationals sponsored by private individuals will depart the Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa tomorrow(today) at 3.30 pm local time via South African Airways.
”The expected time of arrival of the returnees at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos is 8.45 pm same day.’
Confirming this on her X handle, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, thanked the private sponsors ”this group of individuals for complementing government’s efforts and for their ‘whole of society approach’ to addressing this crisis.
‘This same group have also committed to evacuating a second batch of our Nationals who no longer feel safe in South Africa and have expressed a wish to return to Nigeria,’ she said.
Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu appealed to state governors to support returnees in the relocation process.
She said the returnees in the latest batch are indigenes of Anambra, Ondo, Imo, Oyo, Enugu, Ogun, Abia, Osun, Delta, Kwara and Ekiti states.
The minister said: ‘We 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.
”We appreciate well-meaning Nigerian individuals and groups, home and abroad, for their support and efforts in responding to and assisting Nigerian Nationals facing consular challenges and emergencies overseas.’