Nigeria has concluded the screening of its citizens in South Africa who registered for evacuation, with authorities expected to determine the final number of eligible returnees before arranging flights back home.
The spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, announced that the screening exercise, which began on Thursday, ended on Friday following a joint operation involving Nigerian and South African authorities.
According to Mr Ebienfa, the exercise was conducted by the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria in collaboration with South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the South African Police Service and immigration officials.
“The screening exercise of Nigerians in South Africa that have registered to be evacuated will end today,” he said.
He explained that the process was aimed at verifying those who had applied for evacuation and establishing an accurate number of persons eligible for repatriation.
“At the end of the screening, we will have a definite figure that have been cleared for evacuation,” Mr Ebienfa stated.
He added that the Federal Government would then move to finalise arrangements for aircraft deployment to transport the affected Nigerians back to the country.
“Thereafter, Government will finalise the details about deployment of aircrafts to bring them home,” he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said further details on the evacuation plans would be communicated as they become available.
The development comes as Nigerian authorities continue efforts to support citizens abroad requiring consular assistance and emergency evacuation.
