The Redeemed Christian Church of God has commenced the repatriation of at least 500 Nigerians from South Africa, with the first batch of 100 returnees arriving in Lagos on Thursday night.
The returnees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, from Johannesburg under a humanitarian initiative funded by the church following an appeal from the Nigerian diplomatic mission in South Africa.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons and other relevant agencies received the returnees at the airport, where profiling and documentation began.
Speaking ahead of their arrival, the Chairman of the RCCG Task Force for the Reception of Nigerian Returnees from South Africa, Pastor Belemina Obunge, said the church’s General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, approved the funding of their air transportation on humanitarian grounds.
Obunge explained that the returnees had been profiled and documented by the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa in collaboration with the South African Home Affairs authorities.
He stressed that the beneficiaries were not selected based on their religious affiliation, noting that the group comprised Nigerians of different faiths, including Christians and Muslims.
According to him, the RCCG is responsible for the cost of transporting the returnees from Johannesburg to Lagos, while government agencies will coordinate their reception, processing and onward movement to their respective states.
Obunge said the exercise would be conducted in batches because of the documentation and clearance procedures, adding that the number of returnees could exceed 500 due to the inclusion of children and infants.
He urged Nigerians still stranded in South Africa to approach the Nigerian diplomatic mission to complete the necessary documentation for possible repatriation, while calling on state governments to support the reintegration of their returning citizens.
The RCCG chairman also appealed to other religious organisations to emulate the intervention by supporting Nigerians facing difficulties abroad, saying the returnees had been given an opportunity to begin a new chapter of their lives back home.
