Nigeria has repatriated another 111 of its citizens from South Africa, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued Sunday, bringing the total evacuated since June 2026 to 2,037.
The latest group arrived in Lagos on Thursday, October 8, aboard South African Airways flight SA060. The group comprised 44 men, 23 women and 44 children, according to the ministry.
The evacuations, carried out across 15 consular operations since June 10, are linked to reported xenophobic and Afrophobic hostility in South Africa. The federal government paid for 1,388 of the 2,037 returnees, while this latest batch was funded by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, which committed $265,854 to return 500 people; 318 returnees have so far used church-funded tickets, with 182 remaining.
Returnees were received by officials from Foreign Affairs, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and the National Emergency Management Agency. Nigerians still in South Africa were advised to stay in contact with the High Commission in Pretoria and the Consulate General in Johannesburg.
