114 Nigerians return from South Africa on RCCG-funded tickets

Another 114 Nigerians, including 34 children, have returned from South Africa on tickets funded by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.

The group arrived in Lagos aboard South African Airways flight SA060 at about 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 22. The ministry said the passengers comprised 57 men, 23 women and 34 children.

The arrival brings the number evacuated under the consular exercise to 2,151 since June 10, according to a statement issued on October 23 by ministry spokesperson Oluwafemi Adeniyi. He described it as the sixteenth evacuation operation.

Officials from the foreign ministry, the National Emergency Management Agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service and other federal agencies received the returnees in Lagos.

The church paid for the group’s one-way tickets from its $265,854 donation to support the evacuation of 500 distressed Nigerians. The latest arrival brings the number whose journeys the church has funded to 432, the ministry said.

The government has fully funded the return of 1,388 people during the exercise, according to the same statement. The ministry thanked RCCG and its General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, for supporting the evacuation.

The church-funded returns began with an earlier group that reached Lagos in September, as NaijaTrend reported here.

The ministry said the evacuation took place amid concerns about attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. It called on South African authorities to protect people regardless of nationality and hold those responsible for violence accountable.

Nigerians still in South Africa were advised to obey local laws, remain vigilant and prioritise their safety. The ministry urged them to keep in contact with the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria and the Consulate General in Johannesburg for consular assistance.

Sources: Nigeria Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vanguard, Voice of Nigeria