Government completes emergency evacuation as many returnees arrive with little more than the clothes they wore, leaving behind businesses, homes and families.
LAGOS — The last of Nigeria’s government-sponsored evacuation flights from South Africa has landed in Lagos, bringing to a close an emergency airlift that returned more than 1,500 Nigerians fleeing weeks of xenophobic violence. For many of the returnees, however, the journey home marks the beginning of another struggle: rebuilding lives they were forced to leave behind.
Among them is a 49-year-old businessman from Edo State, who spent more than a decade building a livelihood in Johannesburg before the unrest forced him to flee.
Speaking shortly after arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, he said he left South Africa with just one bag, abandoning the business he had spent years establishing.
“I came back with nothing,” he said. “Everything I built is there. But I was not going to wait to become a statistic.”
The final evacuation flight departed O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on 15 July 2026, completing a coordinated operation that repatriated more than 1,500 Nigerian nationals following attacks targeting foreign migrants across parts of South Africa.
The evacuation followed a wave of violence that claimed the lives of at least two Nigerians—identified as Musa Yunana Joe and Charles Iroegbu—and prompted Abuja to intensify diplomatic engagement with Pretoria while facilitating the voluntary return of affected citizens.
Regional Response
The attacks also drew condemnation from governments across West Africa.
Nigeria and Ghana jointly denounced the violence during engagements on the sidelines of the ECOWAS Summit, calling for stronger continental action to protect African migrants and curb recurring xenophobic attacks.
While Nigeria evacuated approximately 1,500 citizens, Ghana also repatriated hundreds of its nationals as violence spread through affected communities.
The unrest was linked to anti-immigration groups, including Operation Dudula and the March and March Movement, which have intensified campaigns demanding the removal of undocumented foreign nationals from South Africa. In several communities, foreign-owned businesses were looted, while migrants reported intimidation, assaults and forced displacement.
Returning to Uncertainty
Although the evacuation has been widely welcomed as a humanitarian intervention, attention is now shifting to the long-term welfare of those returning home.
Many of the evacuees have arrived without savings, employment or accommodation after abandoning businesses, personal belongings and years of investment abroad.
For some, the separation extends beyond material losses.
The Edo businessman said his South African wife and their two children remained behind because of their citizenship status.
He does not know when he will see them again.
“I’m not angry at South Africa,” he said quietly. “I’m just tired. We go somewhere to build, and they tell us to leave. We come home and there is nothing to come back to. Where do we belong?”
Beyond the Airlift
The emergency evacuation may have brought Nigerians out of immediate danger, but it has also exposed a more complex challenge confronting policymakers.
Repatriation, analysts say, is only the first phase of a humanitarian response.
The more difficult task is reintegration—helping returnees rebuild livelihoods, reconnect with families and reintegrate into an economy already grappling with unemployment, inflation and rising living costs.
Without structured support, many fear those rescued from xenophobic violence abroad could return home only to face a different form of hardship.
For the more than 1,500 Nigerians who stepped off evacuation flights in Lagos carrying little more than a suitcase, survival was the immediate victory.
Rebuilding their lives may prove the harder journey.