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258 Nigerians return from S’Africa, barred from re-entry for five years
No fewer than 258 Nigerians yesterday touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, from South Africa.
The returnees, comprising males, females and minors, were brought back to the country aboard Air Peace’s chartered flight.
The aircraft, a Boeing 777, touched down at the airport around 10:30 a.m.
The returnees were welcomed into the country by the Director General of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and other officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The returnees left South Africa following the spate of violence, which had engulfed the country in the last few months.
Some South Africans launched violent attacks against foreigners, accusing them of taking over their jobs.
On arrival in Nigeria, the returnees underwent some card registration, immigration processes and other checks.
Each returnee will receive free N50,000 airtime from MTN and N100,000 from the Federal Government, alongside other offers from state governments and other non-governmental organisations.
MEANWHILE, South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, in a statement issued yesterday, disclosed that the first repatriation flight departed on June 11 with 268 Nigerians, while a second flight transporting the remaining individuals had been scheduled for June 15.
According to the department, all those processed for repatriation were issued Emergency Travel Documents by the Nigerian High Commission, which facilitated their departure from South Africa and return to Nigeria.
The department said the repatriations were carried out in accordance with South Africa’s Immigration Act, adding that all affected individuals had been declared undesirable persons and would be barred from re-entering the country for a period of five years.
It also acknowledged the cooperation of the Nigerian High Commission throughout the documentation and repatriation exercise.
Commenting on the operation, South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, said the government remained committed to enforcing immigration laws and strengthening border management.
The minister also linked the government’s immigration enforcement efforts to ongoing reforms aimed at modernising identity and border management systems. He cited the expansion of the Electronic Travel Authorisation programme, the replacement of the Green ID Book with Smart ID cards, and the planned introduction of a Digital Identity system as measures designed to improve the country’s ability to monitor and enforce immigration regulations.
Schreiber urged members of the public to refrain from taking the law into their hands, stressing that immigration enforcement should be conducted through lawful processes and established institutions.
BUT Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Temitope Ajayi, challenged claims that the 258 Nigerians repatriated from South Africa were undocumented migrants, insisting that many of them became caught in administrative delays within the South African immigration system.
Speaking during the formal handover of the returnees to Nigerian authorities yesterday at the airport, Ajayi described reports portraying all the evacuees as undocumented as “false and misleading,” arguing that several of the returnees had long-standing applications for permit renewals that remained unprocessed by South African authorities.
NIGERIANS in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) welcomed returnees, stating that the return was on the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who approved and fully funded the Air Peace evacuation flight.
Speaking at the reception, the Chairman/CEO of NIDCOM commended President Tinubu’s swift intervention and the collaborative efforts of all agencies.
The NIDCOM chairman further announced that Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State had approved N1,000,000 for each Imo State indigene among the returnees; MTN Nigeria donated N100,000 per returnee, to be transferred to their accounts, while NIMC would fast-track the issuance of National Identity Numbers (NIN) to all evacuees.
Japa on reverse lane as the United States Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has updated its list of Nigerians facing removal from the country, reducing the number to 112 and publishing their names and photographs online.
The latest list features Nigerians from different parts of the country and was published through the DHS official website.
Among those listed are Cletus Onyali, Olaolu Alabi, Marcus Unigwe, Mkpouto Etukudoh, Blessing Uchanma, Olaniyi Ojikutu, Richard Ugbah, Oluwamuyiwa Olawoye, Anthony Asanya and Ebele Agbasiele
Others identified on the list include Izuchukwu Okoye, Olufemi Olufisayo Olutiola, Abiemwense Obanor, Chibuzo Nwaonu, Oluchi Jennifer Chimdimma Chime, Ifeanyi Okoro, Oluwaseun Kassim, Quazeem Adeyinka and Talatu Dada.
The complete list contains 112 names, with the photographs and details of the other individuals available through the DHS online portal.
The publication comes amid stepped-up immigration enforcement by the US government, particularly involving undocumented immigrants and individuals with outstanding removal orders.
It also comes against the backdrop of efforts by US authorities to obtain increased cooperation from foreign governments in receiving their nationals who have been ordered to leave the United States.
Nigeria has previously faced pressure from the US over the repatriation of its nationals subject to deportation.
The updated publication provides public access to the identities and photographs of the Nigerians currently identified by DHS for removal from the United States.
The Department of State Services, DSS, on Thursday re-arraigned five men accused of complicity in the May 15 kidnap of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and the subsequent killing of two of the victims.
They were arraigned on a seven-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026, filed by the DSS on behalf of the Federal Government.
The defendants, accused of being members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
All five defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by the Registrar of the court.
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who led the DSS legal team, applied for the immediate trial of the defendants in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
He also applied for the names of witnesses lined up to testify in the trial to be shielded and for them to be permitted to wear masks to ensure their protection.
Following no objection from counsel to the defendants, Bala Dakum, Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the request of the DSS counsel.
At the time of filing this report, arrangements for the full-scale trial were being put in place.
LAGOS — A post-mortem examination conducted by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has confirmed that 20-year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade died from a penetrating firearm injury to the abdomen.
The finding is contained in a six-page autopsy report dated July 30, 2026, and submitted to the Lagos State Coroner’s Court investigating the circumstances surrounding the young journalist’s death during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
According to the report, Onifade died from massive haemoperitoneum, a severe accumulation of blood in the abdominal cavity, caused by a high-velocity projectile that penetrated his abdomen.
The forensic finding provides medical evidence establishing a gunshot injury as the cause of death, while the circumstances surrounding who fired the shot and the events that followed remain matters before the coroner’s proceedings.
How Onifade Died
Onifade was a 200-level History student of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) and worked as an intern reporter with Gboah TV, a Lagos-based online news platform.
On October 24, 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, he was assigned to cover an attempted looting at a government palliative storage facility in the Abattoir area of Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos.
According to accounts presented by his family and colleagues, Onifade was wearing a press jacket and carrying reporting equipment when officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force opened fire while attempting to disperse the crowd.
He was reportedly struck by a bullet and subsequently taken away in a police van, commonly referred to as a Black Maria.
A colleague who was with him at the scene reportedly attempted to identify him as a journalist and explain that he was carrying camera equipment, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Onifade was not seen alive again after that incident.
Family Searched Police Stations, Hospitals
Following his disappearance, his family and colleagues searched police stations, detention facilities and hospitals across Lagos in an attempt to establish his whereabouts.
According to the family, police authorities denied having him in custody.
Six days later, on October 30, 2020, the family located his body at the mortuary of Ikorodu General Hospital, where it had been registered as a “brought-in-dead” case under body number 1385.
The discovery triggered years of demands for an independent investigation into how the young journalist died and how his remains ended up in the mortuary.
DNA Test Identified the Body
The identity of the body was subsequently confirmed through forensic DNA testing.
Results from the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre established a match between the unidentified body bearing tag number 1385 and reference samples obtained from Onifade’s parents.
The DNA confirmation provided a crucial breakthrough after years of uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts and identity of the missing journalist.
Court Ordered Coroner’s Inquest
The search for accountability later moved into the courts.
In July 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Lagos State Government and the police to conduct a coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death.
The objective of the inquest is to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and determine the facts surrounding the actions of the security personnel involved.
The ongoing proceedings before the Lagos State Coroner’s Court are being presided over by Magistrate Temitope Oladele.
Following the submission of the post-mortem report, the court has directed key witnesses, including police personnel who were on duty in the Oko-Oba area on October 24, 2020, to appear and testify.
Rights Groups Demand Accountability
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which has supported the Onifade family in its legal efforts, has described the post-mortem findings as significant evidence in the case.
Rights activists, journalist unions, and the deceased’s family continue to demand the public prosecution of the police officers who fired the shot and those who supervised the deployment during the Lagos #EndSARS demonstrations.
Japa on reverse lane as US releases names, photos of 112 Nigerians on deportation list
Oyo kidnap: Five defendants plead not guilty to seven count charges
Autopsy Confirms #EndSARS Journalist Pelumi Onifade Died From Gunshot Wound
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