The federal government said more than 1,000 Nigerians in South Africa have been screened for voluntary repatriation as part of efforts to evacuate citizens willing to return home.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed this in an interview in Abuja on Saturday.
She said the screening exercise is being carried out jointly by the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria and South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs.
According to her, the exercise entered its third day on Saturday, with large numbers of Nigerians turning up for voluntary return processing.
“The turnout at the High Commission of Nigeria in Pretoria has been truly impressive,” she said.
“The screening started early on Saturday, and Nigerians came out in large numbers to participate in the process.”
Dabiri-Erewa said despite tensions and uncertainty linked to recent anti-immigrant protests in parts of South Africa, the exercise had remained peaceful and well coordinated under the supervision of Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner in Pretoria, Amb. Olatunde Ajayi.
She said over 1,000 Nigerians had already registered for voluntary evacuation, with more still signing up.
“More than 1,000 Nigerians have registered for the voluntary evacuation, and many more are registering,” she said.
Dabiri-Erewa added that flight arrangements had been approved by President Bola Tinubu, with Air Peace expected to operate the evacuation flights.
She said five flights were planned for the exercise, with the first batch of returnees expected to arrive in Nigeria next week.
