Final Flight: 315 Nigerians Set For Evacuation From South Africa

The Federal Government has completed arrangements for the final phase of its evacuation exercise for stranded Nigerians in South Africa, with 315 citizens scheduled to arrive in Lagos on Wednesday aboard an Air Peace flight.

According to Ireporter Online, the evacuation initiative follows a series of previous rescue operations that successfully returned hundreds of Nigerians to the country as part of the government’s efforts to safeguard the welfare and security of its citizens abroad.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, disclosed that the final evacuation flight will depart Johannesburg at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, and is expected to land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at approximately 6:30 a.m.

The Ministry reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to protecting Nigerians regardless of their location and expressed gratitude to all organisations and partners that contributed to the success of the evacuation exercise.

The Air Peace flight marks the conclusion of the government’s coordinated repatriation programme for Nigerians who opted to return home following recent xenophobic attacks and growing security concerns in parts of South Africa.

Ireporter Online further gathered that the sixth batch of evacuees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport last Friday night, bringing the total number of Nigerians successfully evacuated from South Africa to 1,174.

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), through a statement signed by its Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, confirmed that the latest group consisted of 40 returnees transported on a chartered flight.

The commission also revealed that the evacuation operation included four Air Peace flights, which conveyed 258, 266, 262 and 282 Nigerians respectively, while an additional 66 citizens were repatriated aboard a ValueJet flight.