Xenophobia: 700 Nigerians stranded as S’Africa deadline looms

More than 700 Nigerians remain stranded in South Africa three days before the June 30 deadline issued by anti-immigration groups, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

It was gathered that despite President Bola Tinubu’s approval of funds for their evacuation, bureaucratic delays have prevented the release of the money, leaving hundreds stranded amid escalating xenophobic tensions.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that although the President approved funding for four additional rescue flights after the first evacuation brought home 258 Nigerians, the money had yet to reach the designated carrier, Air Peace.

This delay, according to officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and the Nigeria High Commission in South Africa, is stalling the evacuation operation and leaving hundreds of Nigerians exposed to attacks.

The officials confided in one of our correspondents that Air Peace had declined to deploy aircraft to evacuate the remaining stranded Nigerians until payment was confirmed.

The delay has heightened fears among the stranded Nigerians as xenophobic tensions continue to escalate across South Africa.

The President of the Nigerian Citizens Association in South Africa, Rev. Frank Onyekwelu, told Saturday PUNCH that over 20 Nigerians had died since the renewed wave of anti-foreigner attacks, while many others had been assaulted, displaced or forced to abandon their businesses.

According to the officials, over 1,000 Nigerians registered with the Federal Government for evacuation.

However, only 324 have been successfully brought home so far through a combination of government efforts and private intervention, leaving more than 700 Nigerians at risk of attacks and exposed to the elements.

The first batch of returnees (258) arrived in Lagos on June 11 aboard Air Peace, while the second batch (66) arrived on June 24 aboard ValueJet.

Welcoming the second batch of evacuees, the Coordinator and Head of the Lagos Liaison Office of NiDCOM, Dipo Odebowale, who represented the Chairman of the commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, commended Tinubu for facilitating the operation.

He noted that the logistical challenges encountered after the first evacuation flight were being addressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, who pledged that all Nigerians registered for evacuation would eventually be brought home.

Probing the logistical challenges, Saturday PUNCH gathered that Air Peace, which was expected to evacuate the stranded Nigerians, had yet to receive payment two weeks after Tinubu approved the request.

It was further gathered that the airline had planned to deploy its Boeing 777 aircraft to evacuate the registered Nigerians in four separate flights.

However, the operation was allegedly stalled because the payment issues had yet to be resolved.

“I have enough information that Air Peace has yet to embark on the second evacuation operation because of the payment issue.”

She further disclosed that the delay in payment to Air Peace was responsible for the intervention of ValueJet, which conveyed the second batch of stranded Nigerians to the country.

“The government gave ValueJet the job because discussions with Air Peace seemed to be dragging over payment, and operators are not ready to do free jobs now, considering the price of aviation fuel,” she stated.

However, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, told Saturday PUNCH that Air Peace was scheduled to carry out the second batch of the evacuation on Monday but failed to deploy its aircraft because of the payment issue.

The official disclosed that some Nigerians who had already been directed to report at the airport in Johannesburg in anticipation of the Air Peace flight were later returned to the Nigeria High Commission.

The source lamented that the administrative bottleneck was frustrating the evacuation plan.

He said, “When we operated the first flight, it was paid for by Mr President. Then we submitted requests for four subsequent flights, which have also been approved by him. That was two weeks ago. But approval is different from when the money reaches Air Peace’s account.

“So, we are waiting for the administrative procedure that will ensure the money is paid into Air Peace’s account before we can authoritatively say when the next batch of the four flights will be.”

On the arrival of the 66 Nigerians, the official said, “The second flight was supposed to leave Johannesburg on Monday. We invited those who were supposed to be on the flight to come to the High Commission. From the High Commission, they were to be moved to the airport to board the flight to Nigeria.

“However, after inviting them, we later got information that the Monday flight would not come because of this administrative issue.

“Some of those who had already arrived and could not return to any reliable accommodation were sheltered at the High Commission. The High Commission was feeding and taking care of them pending when the flight would be ready. Because of the administrative issue last week, the mission decided to raise the alarm to see how well-meaning Nigerians could intervene to assist those already waiting with their luggage at the High Commission.

“The owner of ValueJet responded and paid for 66 tickets on South African Airways to bring them (the stranded Nigerians) to Lagos on Wednesday night.”

Asked how soon the administrative issue would be resolved, the official expressed optimism that the next evacuation flight might depart for South Africa on Monday.

“I am optimistic that between now and Monday, we will be able to state exactly when the next flight will commence.

“The issue is not about approving a request; it is about Air Peace confirming payment, then giving us a date to deploy its aircraft.”

Similarly, a NiDCOM official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented that the logistical challenges, including the non-availability of aircraft, were responsible for the delay.

“The Federal Government is committed to evacuating the affected Nigerians in South Africa. About 1,000 of them registered for evacuation. But logistical issues, including the non-availability of aircraft, are delaying the subsequent evacuation process,” he said.

Meanwhile, efforts to obtain comments from Air Peace and ValueJet were unsuccessful.

Calls and text messages sent to Air Peace’s spokesperson, Efe Osifo-Whiskey, and ValueJet’s Managing Director, Capt. Dapo Majekodunmi, were neither answered nor acknowledged as of the time of filing this report.

The renewed xenophobic attacks

Since late April, xenophobic tensions have resurfaced in South Africa, where foreign nationals, particularly Africans, have increasingly become targets of hostility over allegations that they are taking jobs and straining public services.