Nigeria cancels second South Africa evacuation flight without explanation, stranded citizens demand answers

• Nigeria cancelled a planned second evacuation flight for citizens stranded in South Africa without explaining why.

• The Nigerian Union South Africa says many affected citizens cannot afford to return home on their own and are demanding answers.

• The cancellation comes as anti-migrant tensions continue and more Nigerians remain stranded awaiting government assistance.

The Nigerian government flew a little over 260 citizens home from South Africa on June 11, 2026. Then, three days later, a day before it had initially planned to take more people home, it cancelled the next flight without explanation.

That sequence of events has left hundreds of Nigerians stranded in South Africa in a worsening situation, with the Nigerian Union South Africa calling on the government to clarify what went wrong and when the next evacuation will happen.

The first batch of evacuees arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, aboard a special Air Peace flight arranged by the Federal Government as xenophobic attacks against migrants in South Africa intensified. A second flight was scheduled for June 15. 

On the eve of that flight, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa delivered a one-line announcement saying, "There will be no evacuation flight tomorrow." No further explanation was given.

NUSA President-General Smart Nwobi said the cancellation had left vulnerable Nigerians disappointed and distressed. Many of them, he said, lack the financial means to return independently and had been counting on the government flight.

"The inability of the scheduled flight of 15 June 2026 to airlift these Nigerians has further compounded their challenges and raised serious concerns among affected individuals and their families," Nwobi said.

NUSA called on the Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other relevant agencies to publicly explain what caused the cancellation and outline concrete next steps.

The cancellation comes as videos circulating on social media continue to show the impact of the crisis on migrants.

In one case, a Nigerian man with valid documentation and a business employing over 20 South Africans was still being told to leave. He said on camera he was willing to go, he just wanted to be paid for what he owned. The request was refused.

In another, a Ghanaian woman described how her property had been looted and burned, leaving her sleeping on a sidewalk alongside nearly 200 other migrants.

These scenes are playing out against a deadline. South Africans have informally set June 30 as a date by which undocumented migrants are expected to present themselves for repatriation or face enforcement action.

This has put Nigerians who, without the means to leave on their own, were waiting for a second government flight that has now been cancelled without explanation under pressure.

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