| By: Francis Onyemachi
Nigerian airline Air Peace airlifted 271 more Nigerians from South Africa on Tuesday, completing a second evacuation flight as Abuja moves to bring home citizens caught up in xenophobic tensions in the country.
The Boeing 777-200 wide-body aircraft departed Johannesburg and landed at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport at around 10:35 a.m. local time, taxiing to the Cargo and Hajj Terminal, where returnees went through immigration processing before being reunited with relatives.
Tuesday’s flight brings the number of Nigerians evacuated under the government-backed operation to 533, following an initial flight on June 11 that returned 262 citizens.
The exercise was organised by Nigeria’s federal government amid renewed concern over the safety of Nigerians in parts of South Africa, where reports of attacks on foreign nationals have stoked tension in recent weeks.
Air Peace spokesperson Efe Osifo-Whiskey said the operation demonstrated “the power of public-private collaboration in safeguarding Nigerian lives,” and credited President Bola Tinubu’s government for acting quickly to protect citizens abroad, as well as Air Peace chairman Allen Onyema for backing the airline’s humanitarian missions.
The airline said it has carried out more than 16 humanitarian and evacuation operations across Africa and beyond since starting commercial flights, transporting people from conflict zones and crisis-hit regions to safety, and reaffirmed its readiness to support further government-led emergency response efforts.
