This archive report was first published on 11 September 2019.
Nigeria has announced plans to evacuate hundreds of its citizens from Johannesburg in South Africa, following a series of xenophobic attacks.
According to the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 313 citizens are expected to arrive in Lagos at 2pm local time on September 11, 2019.
“640 Nigerian nationals have been registered at the Nigerian Missions in South Africa and the first batch will be evacuated today, Wednesday, 11th September, 2019,” the ministry said on Twitter.
The unrest in Johannesburg, which began last week, has seen attackers looting and torching cars, targeting businesses owned by immigrants from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Kenya.
A Nigerian real estate firm, Landwey Investment, has offered free flights for those who want to return home.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari expressed concerns over the “intermittent violence” against its citizens in South Africa and called on the country’s government to take steps to end it.
On Sunday, two people were killed, and 16 others were arrested in fresh riots that erupted as looters targeted shops in a business district in Johannesburg.
