Air Peace, the largest Nigerian airline in terms of volume of passengers, has on Wednesday, facilitated the evacuation of Nigerians living in South Africa for free in response to renewed wave of xenophobic attacks in parts of Johannesburg.
The 186 Nigerians, about 30 of whom are children, were airlifted from the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg around 3:00pm South African time, after hours of delay caused by biometrics capture. Many of them said they have been living in fear for their lives as the attacks continued to escalate on a daily basis. Some returnees are also believed to be running away from abusive husbands and relationships.
Godwin Adama, Nigerian Consul-General to South Africa who met with the Air Peace evacuation team at the O.R. Tambo airport prior to departure back to Lagos, said over 900 Nigerians had been registered as at Tuesday. The Air Peace crew had expected to evacuate 319 passengers in the first flight on Wednesday, instead 186 people showed up.
A representative of the Nigerian Consulate explained that some of those who were expected to join the first flight, could have had a change of mind for fear they will be blacklisted from entry into South Africa, given that their travel documents were not complete. Some could have also voided the trip because of domestic disagreements between couples over relocating back to Nigeria.
“These Nigerians are excited and they want to go back because they feel they can do something better in Nigeria,” Adama said.
He also clarified that no Nigerian life was lost during the recent xenophobic attacks.
While most of the violence was concentrated in the areas with large population of poor people, attacks mostly focused on burning and looting of businesses and properties belonging to foreign nationals from different African countries.
The attacks have so far claimed the lives of two foreigners who were truck drivers over fears that South African truckers were losing their jobs to foreigners.
“Some of the videos you see on social media are old videos and some didn’t happen in South Africa,” Adama said.
He also disclosed that about half of the Nigerians returning do not have proper documentation, hence the Nigerian mission in South Africa have to provide an Emergency Travel Certificate. This also contributed to making them easy targets for anti-foreigners’ attackers.
However, the passengers were informed by the Consulate that they wouldn’t be able to go back to South Africa unless they get the right documentation.
“The issue here is there are negative perception about foreigners. SA has the highest rate of crime, not less than 20 people are murdered in this country every week. It is a volatile society, there is this feeling of insecurity in SA,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Consulate on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria has continued to engage the South African government for a lasting solution to the attacks. The Nigerian government sent an envoy last week to South Africa to formally register their displeasure with the security of African nationals. The envoy accompanied by the Consulate, also held a meeting of African ministers aimed at bringing the violence to an end.
“The evacuation is also a plus for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because it shows that the government cares about the welfare of Nigerians in South Africa,” Ebienfa Kimiebi, first secretary, Crisis Monitoring and Public Communication Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was among the welcome team to South Africa, said.
The Nigerian Consulate in South Africa provided accommodation and overnight feeding to Nigerians who had registered interest to come back.
“By yesterday we have to be calling people to be sure they are going on the Air Peace flight. We demanded for consent letters to accept any lady with children who are not travelling without their husband. We have accommodated quite a number of them to make sure they join us,” Adama said.
In a bid to ensure transparency and protect people from falling victims to scams, the consulate sent out notices clearly stating that the flight is free and no one should pay for it. People were also mandated to come down to the mission to be registered.
Air Peace officials said the airline plans to fulfill its promise of evacuating all the registered passengers first on Wednesday and a second flight on Thursday. The Air Peace flight P47806 is one of the latest fleets in the airline’s possession. It has a maximum capacity of 364 passengers.
“We commend Allen Onyema, the chairman of Air Peace for this great gesture. It is indeed a one of its kind,” Kimiebi said.
The flight arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) at 9:34pm.
FRANK ELEANYA
