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The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has activated reception arrangements for Nigerian citizens being evacuated from South Africa aftermath of xenophobic attacks against Black immigrants in the country.
Mrs. Zubaida Umar, NEMA Director-General, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, saying the agency’s response team had been deployed to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Umar noted that the NEMA team would receive the returnees in company of other relevant government agencies and stakeholders.
According to her, the first batch of the evacuees will depart the Oliver Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, on Wednesday night.
She added that the returnees were expected to arrive at the MMIA, Lagos, in the early hours of Thursday.
The evacuation exercise follows recent diplomatic interventions and voluntary repatriation frameworks established to assist Nigerians facing socio-economic challenges, documentation issues, and safety concerns abroad.
These include past successful interventions in Sudan, Libya, and South Africa during periods of civil unrest and xenophobic tensions.
