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Recent weeks must have been a heartbreaking and horrifying experience for hundreds of Nigerians and other foreign nationals in South Africa. For many of them, especially Nigerians, sharing their heartbreaking stories feels like the world has suddenly collapsed on them. Yes, it did. Threats, intimidation, harassment, unlawful evictions, workplace discrimination, police extortion, and denial of access to healthcare and other basic services affecting migrants are some of the harrowing tales.
About 12 Nigerians were reportedly shot in the last six weeks, including those selling tomatoes. A Nigerian, Mrs Emilia Godwin lost her husband in one of the Xenophobic attacks. “I will not return to South Africa, they killed my husband”, she said in tears while reliving her horrifying experience.
Some South African landlords were reported to have given Nigerian tenants a 24-hour quite notice. They levelled a series of unproven criminal allegations, including drug trafficking and kidnapping. The Xenophobic attacks were championed mainly by two South African anti-immigrant vigilance groups known as the “March March” and “Operation Dudula”. The mobs had organised protests against foreign nationals in April and last month in South Africa’s main cities of Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and other cities, demanding that undocumented foreigners must leave by a self-imposed June 30 deadline.
The protests quickly turned violent, with gangs armed with sticks, whips and shields marching through townships, going door-to-door, intimidating, beating and killing some foreign nationals. Eyewitness accounts said the mobs made no mistake howling insults that Nigerians are their major target, even though other foreign nationals were not spared. The South African government reportedly watched in silence. It took no action as the thugs relentlessly attacked, killed and maimed innocent, legitimate Nigerian residents. Their shops were looted and set ablaze. It was like revisiting the dark, gruesome era of the apartheid regime.
The flare-up was said to have been fueled by South Africa’s socioeconomic challenges, with unemployment exceeding 30 percent high. According to Al Jazeera and other foreign media outlets, including the British Broadcasting Service(BBC), political entrepreneurs in South Africa also leveraged those economic frustrations to blame migrants for pressure on public services like healthcare and policing. That’s how bad it’s been for foreign nationals in South Africa, with Nigerians caught in the maelstrom of the Xenophobic tensions.
But amid these tales of sorrow and horror came the rescue. For the second time in seven years, Air Peace, Nigeria’s and West Africa’s largest carrier moved in, just in time. The Chairman of the Airline, Chief Allen Ifechukwu Onyema, CON, is a team player for a common good. Air Peace’s commitment to evacuate Nigerian returnees follows a path of humanitarian passion, purpose, and progress, driven by unflappable patriotism of the Airline’s CEO. When it matters most, Air Peace always shows up .
Immediately the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that more than 500 Nigerians have been screened and cleared for evacuation, Air Peace agreed to do that free. It involves five evacuation flights for Nigerians in different parts of South Africa. The operation began last Thursday with the first flight departing from Johannesburg for Nigeria. It carried 258 returnees. They arrived safely at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos that blustery afternoon, amid mixed feelings of excitement and sadness. But nothing like home. All the returnees expressed profound gratitude to the effort of the federal government, and in particular, to the management of Air Peace, and its Chairman, Allen Onyema for bringing them back home in safety and comfort.
While deeply relieved to be on safe soil, some of them graduates and business owners, have appealed to the federal government for urgent rehabilitation, jobs and start-up capital to help them rebuild their lives in Nigeria. What happened last week was a broader effort to provide consular support and ensure the welfare and safety of Nigerians abroad.
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According to government officials, the evacuation was voluntary. It was aimed at safeguarding Nigerians who have been affected by the unconscionable xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Meanwhile, Air Peace targets the repatriation of about 1,000 Nigerians from South Africa over the course of five flights in the weeks ahead. What Air Peace is doing is unparalleled in Nigeria’s aviation industry. It’s about what an individual with uncommon vision and love of country can do without expecting rewards in return. Look at it this way: Evacuating the first batch of 258 returnees from South Africa via a commercial flight would have cost between N252 million and N309 million($151,000 to $185,000). This is based on standard international one-way fare of N980,000 to N1.2m per passenger for Johannesburg-Lagos route. Because this evacuation was operated as an emergency charter/humanitarian mission, specific costs were handled uniquely. The Chairman of Air Peace completely covered the airlift himself, offering to bring the affected Nigerians back home free of charge. While the aircraft had the capacity to hold over 300 passengers, the first batch that was successfully screened and cleared by South Africa’s immigration to board the Air Peace Boeing 777 numbered between 258 and 262 passengers. Over the course of these coordinated efforts, the airline will be involved in multiple trips, eventually bringing back over 600 Nigerians from South Africa, according to official reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It may be recalled that this is not the first time that Air Peace has undertaken such exemplary humanitarian mission in South Africa to rescue Nigerians stranded in that country. In 2019, Air Peace Chief Operations Officer(COO), Mrs Oluwatoyin Olajide, had in a letter addressed to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, urged the federal government to facilitate the rescue of stranded Nigerians in South Africa. She described the Xenophobic attacks on Nigerians as an unfortunate event. Part of her letter read, “We cannot fold our hands and watch Nigerians being killed by South Africans”. To that end, she said Air Peace was willing to support the federal government’s effort in that regard.
When the government of Buhari gave the approval, the Airline immediately deployed its B777 aircraft to South Africa to evacuate Nigerians back home. Air Peace has not shied away from taking such enormous responsibility when trouble hits Nigerians in any part of the world. That’s exactly what happened in early 2022 when the Russian-Ukraine conflict broke out. Air Peace deployed some of its aircraft to neighbouring European countries, particularly Poland and Romania where fleeing citizens had gathered. The airline operated special flights funded by the federal government to safely transport the returnees back to Nigeria.
The evacuation followed a structured timeline and coordination. Over 2,000 Nigerians from countries bordering Ukraine were airlifted. Air Peace used its top of the range ‘wide-body’ aircraft directly from Nigeria to airports in those safe zones. That’s smart thinking. The rescue flights brought returnees directly to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, Abuja, and Murtala Muhammed International airport, Lagos. What lessons can Nigerian government learn from the latest Xenophobic attacks in South Africa?
It must start with good leadership and inclusive governance. If Nigeria was better governed, the exodus to other countries for ‘greener pasture’ would have been drastically reduced. Nobody migrates to a country where basic living standards are hard. That’s why despite assurances by South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa to crack down on groups behind the recent Xenophobic violence, his promise is unlikely to translate into concrete action. Those behind the Xenophobic attacks seem not to bother that it’s hurting South Africa’s economy, just as its musicians are losing international engagements, according to its Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr.Mmamoloko Kubayi. The question is: how long will our country continue to suffer Xenophobic attacks? Nigeria does not stand on solid ground in terms of retaliatory measures as suggested recently by some Nigerian lawmakers, including Senator Adams Oshiomhole. Charity must begin at home. Air Peace is doing its part with remarkable consistency. What about the government? You answer!
