Xenophobia: Ondo receives South Africa returnees

The Ondo State Government has promised financial, skills and counselling support to indigenes who returned from South Africa after xenophobic attacks and related security concerns that disrupted their lives and livelihoods.

In a Thursday statement, the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa made the commitment in Akure while receiving the returnees at a state government welcoming and empowerment programme.

Mr Aiyedatiwa said he had approved financial assistance for each of the returnees and would profile them to determine how best to support their settlement, empowerment and reintegration.

He added that returning home should not be the end of their ordeal but the beginning of efforts to rebuild their lives, urging them to deploy the skills, knowledge and experience acquired in South Africa to create new opportunities in Ondo State.

“The returnees should see their experience abroad as an opportunity to start afresh and contribute to the development of their communities,” Mr Aiyedatiwa said.

The governor said the reintegration programme would go beyond providing immediate financial assistance, stressing the need for skills development, counselling, entrepreneurship and other forms of economic support.

He encouraged the returnees to identify needs and business opportunities within their communities, saying their exposure to a different economic environment could be useful in developing new ventures in Ondo State.

Representing the returnees, Ajibade James recounted the difficulties they experienced in South Africa, including violent attacks, destruction or loss of businesses and properties and other challenges that ultimately forced them to return home.

Mr Ogunleye thanked both the federal and Ondo State governments for facilitating their return and providing assistance to those affected.

The experience, he said, had left many returnees needing more than transportation back to Nigeria, particularly as some had lost the businesses and assets they relied on for their livelihoods.

Why Nigerians were evacuated

The return of the Ondo indigenes is part of a wider Nigerian repatriation exercise triggered by renewed xenophobic attacks and growing security concerns in South Africa.

The federal government began evacuating Nigerians from South Africa in June after anti-immigrant protests and attacks targeting foreign nationals intensified in several parts of the country.

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PREMIUM TIMES reported the first batch arrival of 258 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa. By 15 July, the federal government said it had evacuated 1,490 Nigerians in seven flights operated by Air Peace and South African Airways.

The government said the exercise was undertaken in response to security concerns arising from ongoing xenophobic attacks targeting foreign nationals, including Nigerians.

Additionally, over 1,500 Nigerians also voluntarily returned from South Africa between 11 June and 15 July. Their return was coordinated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) which described the exercise as part of efforts to ensure their safe, orderly and dignified return.

The violence came amid heightened anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa, where migrants have repeatedly been blamed for problems including unemployment, crime and pressure on public services in the country..

The unrest was later accompanied by calls from anti-immigration groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, raising fears among Nigerians and other African migrants about their safety.

In July, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said two of its citizens were killed during the wave of anti-migrant violence.