A fresh batch of 83 Nigerian nationals is set to return home from South Africa on Wednesday, in an evacuation funded entirely by private donors rather than the federal government.
In an updated statement, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa said the returnees are expected to depart Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg at 3:35 p.m.
local time aboard a South African Airways flight, arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at approximately 8:45 p.m. the same day.
Ebienfa said the latest cohort of returnees is being facilitated through the kind intervention and sponsorship of air tickets by public-spirited private individuals, whose generosity the Federal Government acknowledged with profound gratitude. Unlike the government-run evacuation exercise that preceded it, this batch’s tickets were entirely privately funded — a distinction the ministry was careful to note.
Wednesday’s flight follows the conclusion of a much larger, government-led repatriation drive that brought nearly 1,490 Nigerian citizens home from South Africa amid a spike in Afrophobic attacks and anti-foreigner sentiment targeting African migrants in the country. That programme’s formal end did not stop demand for return flights — weeks after it wound down, Nigeria’s High Commission in South Africa opened an online portal for nationals seeking a second wave of repatriation, with acting High Commissioner Alexander Ajayi saying the mission was compiling registrant data for use once new sponsors stepped forward.
The portal remained open until August 12, with the commission publicly appealing to private partners to fund further evacuations — an appeal Wednesday’s flight directly answers.
Support for returnees has extended beyond the federal government to the state level. In one example, Abia State Governor Alex Otti approved ₦31 million in interim support for 31 Abia-origin nationals who returned in an earlier evacuation batch, underscoring how some states have moved to cushion returnees’ reintegration once they land, on top of the federal repatriation effort.
The ministry reiterated its broader diplomatic stance on the crisis, framing Nigerians abroad as assets rather than liabilities. It said the government remains committed to deepening strategic partnerships with host nations, including South Africa, to address the root causes of Afrophobia, and pledged to ensure that acts of violence and discrimination against Nigerians are prevented, condemned, and that perpetrators are held accountable. Officials have also called on the organised private sector, corporate bodies, state governments and other philanthropists to support ongoing repatriation efforts, framing Wednesday’s flight as a model for future privately backed evacuations.
