Air Peace Evacuates Final Batch of Nigerians from South Africa

Air Peace concluded its evacuation operation from South Africa, successfully returning the final batch of 308 Nigerians, which brings the total number of evacuees to 1,393 across five flights. The last evacuation flight arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at 11:28 AM aboard a Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

This operation was coordinated in partnership with the federal government, as stated in a release on Wednesday. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, received the returnees and conveyed President Bola Tinubu's assurances of the federal government's commitment to their reintegration and welfare.

Dabiri-Erewa commended the collaboration that made the evacuation possible and praised Air Peace's Chairman and CEO, Allen Onyema, for his support. The evacuation was initiated due to renewed xenophobic attacks and anti-immigrant protests in South Africa, prompting the federal government to begin a voluntary repatriation program for Nigerians.