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More Nigerian returnees evacuated from South Africa have arrived directly at Omega Power Ministries (OPM) headquarters in Port Harcourt for documentation. Once processed, the church provides them with permanent housing in rent-free OPM estates, full medical care at OPM free hospitals, feeding and automatic scholarships for their children.
The Founder and General Overseer of Omega Power Ministries (OPM), HRM King Apostle Chibuzor Gift Chinyere stated this on Friday 3rd July 2026 while receiving a second batch of Nigerians returning from South Africa in Port Harcourt following recent xenophobic attacks, as the ministry continues to expand its free housing and welfare support programme in Port Harcourt in fulfillment of his earlier promise to provide free accommodations to South African Returnees.
King Chinyere confirmed to newsmen that the latest arrivals were personally welcomed into a mini estate acquired for the resettlement initiative, where they joined an earlier group of returnees already accommodated under the programme. He disclosed that more Nigerians are expected to arrive in the coming days and weeks.
As part of efforts to ease their reintegration, the ministry has procured a dedicated bus to transport the children to school and convey the families to church services.
Reports indicate that the intervention is already operational, with returnees and their children settled into an OPM free estate in Port Harcourt and the children enrolled in schools. Many families have so far benefited from the initiative, receiving accommodation, feeding and support to rebuild their lives.
King Chinyere explained that his intervention was prompted by an appeal to a Nigerian friend who had lived in South Africa for more than two decades. According to him, many Nigerians in South Africa were unwilling to return home, not because they wanted to remain in danger, but because they had established their lives there.
“Many of them have homes, marriages, children in school and businesses in South Africa. They have built their lives there and fear returning to Nigeria with nothing waiting for them,” he said.
To address the challenge, the cleric said OPM mobilised resources generated from tithes and offerings to acquire the estate where the returnees are housed free of charge.
He added that all new arrivals are first taken to OPM’s free hospital for medical screening and treatment before being resettled. Their wives are also provided with start-up capital to establish small businesses, while their children are automatically enrolled in any of OPM’s 43 free schools.
Explaining why the intervention initially prioritises women and children, King Chinyere said the ministry’s welfare programmes have always focused on the most vulnerable.
“A man like me, when I went to Lagos, I slept under the bridge. A man can manage anyhow, but the woman and children are the vulnerable,” he stated.
He, however, announced plans to launch a skills acquisition programme for men who lost their businesses in South Africa. The programme will be conducted through the OPM Multi-Skill Acquisition Centre and recognised by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.
The Port Harcourt housing initiative forms part of OPM’s broader humanitarian infrastructure, which includes 18 free housing estates, 43 free schools, two specialist hospitals, a skills acquisition centre, a school for children with autism and Down syndrome, an all-girls technical college and not fewer than 10,000 local and overseas scholarships.
On funding, King Chinyere said the entire programme is sustained through tithes and donations from well meaning Nigerians. He noted that the intervention builds on OPM’s previous humanitarian efforts, including the relocation of the family of the late Deborah Samuel to Port Harcourt and bought 14 mini estate for them in 2022.
With a second batch of returnees now settled and additional arrivals expected in the coming days, the ministry says its welfare structure, including housing, education, transportation and healthcare services, remains fully in place to receive and support more Nigerians returning from South Africa.
He calls for the support and partnership of both the states and federal government including international organizations as the project has become capital intensive.
