Final Evacuation Flight to Bring 315 Nigerians Home from South Africa on Wednesday
Korede Abdullah 
LAGOS, Nigeria – The Federal Government has announced that its final evacuation flight from South Africa will arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Wednesday, bringing home 315 Nigerians displaced by the recent wave of xenophobic violence.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the Air Peace flight would depart Johannesburg at 1:30 a.m. and is expected to land in Lagos at 6:30 a.m.
Ebienfa said more than 1,000 Nigerians had indicated interest in returning home, adding that the previous evacuation flight, which arrived on July 9 with 282 returnees, brought the total number of repatriated citizens to 1,141.
He stated: “The Air Peace flight is expected to depart Johannesburg with 315 returnees at 1:30 a.m. and arrive at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 6:30 a.m.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, urged Nigerians still in South Africa to take advantage of the evacuation exercise, assuring them that the Federal Government would not abandon anyone who had expressed a willingness to return.
Her appeal came after two more Nigerians were reported dead in South Africa, raising the official death toll from the latest xenophobic attacks to four, although some returnees claimed the actual number of fatalities could be higher.
She assured that “the Federal Government would ensure that no citizen who expressed interest to return home would be left behind.”
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Oluwafunbi Bello 