A total of 67 Nigerian returnees from South Africa have arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, in the latest batch of repatriations occasioned by xenophobic attacks in the country.
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The returnees arrived aboard a South African Airways flight on Wednesday night, August 26, and were received by officials of Federal Government agencies, including the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.
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The latest arrivals bring to 150 the number of Nigerians repatriated with the assistance of a philanthropic group, following an earlier batch of 83 returnees.
Representatives of the group, Ikem Ume-Ezeoke and Chief Charles Mba, welcomed the returnees back to the country and presented each person with N50,000 as immediate financial support.
The South West coordinator of the agency, Alex Oturu, said the latest batch of returnees, who fled xenophobic attacks in South Africa, had their return facilitated by well-meaning Nigerians who assisted with flight tickets and other logistics.
Eighty-three Nigerians had returned from South Africa in the previous batch last Thursday.
According to an AFP tally based on figures provided by African governments, more than 176,000 people have left South Africa in recent weeks amid the unrest. South African police say at least four migrants have been killed in the violence, though some foreign governments put the death toll higher.
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