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258 Nigerians return from S’Africa, barred from re-entry for five years
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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.
The Permanent Chairman of the Southern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Council (SNTRC), Arole Oodua Olofin Adimula and the Natural Head of the Oduduwa race worldwide, the Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has rubbished reports circulating on social media alleging that he conferred a chieftaincy title on popular Nollywood actor and comedian, James Olanrewaju, popularly known as Baba Ijesha.
In a statement on Saturday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs, Ooni’s Palace, Otunba Moses Olafare said the Ooni clarified that although he warmly received the actor and his wife at the Ile Oodua Palace on Wednesday to celebrate the birth of his son and presented him with a brand-new car and cash gifts as a demonstration of his fatherly love and royal generosity, no chieftaincy title was conferred on him.
According to him, the expression “Awada Konge Oduwa,” which Baba Ijesha later described on his social media pages as a chieftaincy title, was merely a light-comedy remark made by the Ooni during a relaxed interaction in recognition of the actor’s outstanding career as a comedian.
The remark was never intended to constitute a formal installation or conferment of a traditional title.
The Ooni noted that Baba Ijesha, as an indigene of Ile-Ife and a proud son of the source, is deserving of honour and could be considered for a chieftaincy title in the future.
However, no such title has been conferred on him.
“The conferment of chieftaincy titles in Ile-Ife remains a sacred traditional process governed by established customs, consultations and traditional rites, which are publicly conducted in accordance with the age-long traditions of the source. None of these customary procedures took place during the actor’s visit to the Palace, “he said.
While appreciating Baba Ijesha for acknowledging the royal kindness extended to him and his family, the Ooni urged media organisations and members of the public to disregard reports claiming that the actor has been installed as the “Awada Konge Oduwa” or conferred with any chieftaincy title.
The Ooni reaffirmed his commitment to celebrating and supporting deserving sons and daughters of Ile-Ife and the Oodua race at large while preserving the sanctity, dignity and integrity of the revered traditional institution of chieftaincy.
The Presidency has called on security and anti-graft agencies to identify, arrest and prosecute government officials who may have collaborated with Prince Matthew Adeniyi Adeyemi in the alleged operation of two fictitious federal government agencies.
Adeyemi is accused of creating the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council using allegedly forged documents purportedly linked to the Presidency.
In a statement on his verified X handle, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, said investigators must go beyond Adeyemi and expose the internal network that allegedly enabled him to operate for an extended period.
Ajayi urged the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate all officials within public institutions who may have aided the alleged scheme.
According to Ajayi, much of the public debate has ignored the fact that government institutions detected the alleged fraud and acted on it.
He said officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, working with officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first discovered inconsistencies in Adeyemi’s operations and reported the matter to the appropriate authorities.
“Contrary to the anything-goes narrative being promoted, it was the system itself that raised the red flag and dealt with it administratively,” Ajayi said.
He, however, acknowledged that the suspect could not have operated for long without help from insiders.
“What is not in doubt is that internal collaborators enabled Adeyemi to get this far. That is precisely what investigators from the DSS, the Police and the EFCC must now unravel.
“The criminal network within the affected institutions must be dismantled and everyone found to have played a role should be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
The Presidency had earlier disowned the disowned the two organisations, insisting that they did not exist as government agencies.
It also maintained that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, neither authorised Adeyemi’s activities nor had any connection with them.
“In Nigeria, the easiest and most believable allegation anyone can throw at a public officer is corruption.
“Once that accusation is thrown into the mix, the water is polluted, the lines are blurred and everyone is kept busy arguing over distractions rather than the real issues,” he wrote.
He described Adeyemi as “an irredeemable con artist” who was using allegations against the Chief of Staff as “his last straw” to avoid criminal liability.
The Presidency insisted that the case should not be framed as evidence of complicity at the highest levels of government, but as an alleged fraud uncovered by the system itself.
Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, Abuja Region has announced a planned preventive maintenance at the Katampe 132/33 KiloVolt (kV) Transmission Substation on Saturday from 9:00am to 4:00pm.
General Manager, Public Affairs of the TCN, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, made this announcement in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
Mbah said the scheduled maintenance is to enable TCN’s maintenance crew carry out preventive maintenance on the 100 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA) 132/33kV Power Transformer (TR1), its auxiliaries, and associated switchgear in the substation.
”Consequently, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, will be unable to off-take bulk power for distribution to customers in parts of Mpape, Maitama, Jahi, Life Camp,
”Others are Kado Fish Market, Idu-Karmo, and their environs during the maintenance period,” she said.
According to her, the company regrets any inconvenience the planned outage may cause electricity customers in the affected areas.
She added that equipment maintenance is essential to ensure their continued optimal performance.
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