Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest carrier, on Wednesday evacuated 315 Nigerians from South Africa, bringing the total number of those evacuated so far to 504.
The first batch of 187 Nigerian returnees had been brought back into the country on September 11.
The Air Peace flight with registration number APK 7818 touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) at 7.22pm local time on Wednesday.
The evacuation followed xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other African nationals in South Africa, which led the Federal Government to grant approval that any Nigerian in South Africa willing to return home should indicate interest. Following this, more than 600 Nigerians reportedly registered for evacuation from the country.
Speaking shortly after the evacuation on Wednesday, Allen Onyema, Air Peace chairman, said the lives of 315 people have been rescued as a result of the evacuation.
Onyema said with this evacuation, Air Peace has succeeded in bringing in 504 stranded Nigerians in all.
He assured that Air Peace would still evacuate more people when they have finished with their documentation process.
The Air Peace flight earlier billed to airlift Nigerians from South Africa was delayed for 24 hours because authorities at the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, did not give permit to the airline for the flight in time.
Onyema, who confirmed the delay at the time, said, “We did not take off by 1:00am as scheduled because South African authorities are yet to give us landing permit. We are hopeful that they will give us the permit. Our crew waited till 3:00 am but when the permit did not come, they went back to the hotel. Once we get the permit we will set off to South Africa. We don’t want to speculate but we are hopeful they will give the permit.”
BusinessDay checks show that the South African authorities eventually gave Air Peace permit to land at 8am on Wednesday morning. As a result of the development, the flight was rescheduled to take off from MMIA at 1.ooam on Wednesday morning and arrive by 8am at the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg.
The Air Peace flight, therefore, rescheduled to depart South Africa by mid-day on Wednesday and arrive by 7pm same day.
IFEOMA OKEKE
