In September, the Federal Government evacuated over 500 Nigerians from South Africa as a result of xenophobic attacks on them and other Africans. 

Explaining the reason for stopping the evacuation operation in the country, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, October 10, 2019, said that the violence that necessitated the evacuation had died down.

According to Punch, about 600 Nigerians have registered for evacuation with the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa and are said to be eager to return home.

However, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, while speaking with the newspaper on Thursday said normalcy has been restored in South Africa. 

Ferdinand said during President Buhari’s visit to the country, Nigeria signed about 32 agreements, including a 10-year visa policy with Pretoria to advance bilateral relations.

“People can come back, but normalcy has been restored. What the Air Peace Airline did was on humanitarian grounds. The issue of evacuation does not arise anymore because there is no situation warranting evacuation.

“Yes, there is none, all of us know that. There are some Nigerians that are not doing well and if we help them to return, that is on humanitarian grounds, ” he said.

Meanwhile, an NGO, the Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative (ARDI) has applauded the agreement reached between Nigeria and South Africa on the issuance of a 10-year visa to businessmen, academics and frequent travellers.

Chief Dennis Aghanya, Executive-Secretary of the ARDI, in a statement in Abuja, described the agreement as one of the greatest developments in the diplomatic relationship between both countries.