Eighty-three Nigerian nationals have returned to the country from South Africa in a repatriation exercise supported by private individuals.
In a statement signed by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, anipr, in Abuja and made available to newsmen today, the returnees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, from Johannesburg aboard a South African Airways flight. They were accompanied by two officials of the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Johannesburg.
Nigerian Returnees from South Africa
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed in a statement on Wednesday that the returnees’ flight tickets were procured by public-spirited private individuals who facilitated their safe return to Nigeria.
The Director of the African Affairs Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Haruna Ali-Gombe, received the returnees at the airport on behalf of the Federal Government.
They were subsequently handed over to relevant government agencies for documentation and profiling before being reunited with their families.
The ministry reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to the welfare, safety and dignified return of Nigerian citizens who require assistance or repatriation from foreign countries.
It also commended the Nigerian Mission in South Africa, the private individuals who sponsored the exercise and the government agencies involved in receiving and supporting the reintegration of the returnees.
