By Emmanuel Onyedika
Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, says the Federal Government will pursue compensation for businesses and properties abandoned by Nigerians returning home under its voluntary evacuation programme.
Speaking on national television in Abuja on Tuesday, Ajayi explained that the government has already begun documenting businesses, cars, and other assets left behind by evacuees. He said discussions had been held with the South African Deputy Minister of Finance, with agreement that accurate records of abandoned investments would be compiled and presented to the South African government for possible compensation.
Ajayi stressed that the evacuation exercise would not end with bringing Nigerians home, but would include follow-up efforts to ensure their years of labour and investment are not lost.
Meanwhile, another batch of 269 Nigerians arrived in Lagos on Tuesday aboard an Air Peace flight chartered by the Federal Government. This brings the total number of recent evacuees to 335, following the earlier repatriation of 66 Nigerians on June 24.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Kimiebi Ebienfa, the returnees were escorted by officials from Nigeria’s mission in South Africa and received at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport by a federal delegation led by Ambassador Haruna Ali-Gombe, Director of the African Affairs Department.
Ali-Gombe conveyed President Bola Tinubu’s greetings and assurances to the returnees, reaffirming the government’s commitment to the safety of Nigerians abroad. Ebienfa added that the voluntary repatriation exercise is ongoing, with more flights expected in the coming days.