Another batch of 271 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrived in Lagos on Tuesday under the Federal Government’s voluntary repatriation programme.

The Air Peace flight landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport shortly before 11 a.m. after departing Johannesburg at about 5 a.m. local time.

Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission received the returnees on arrival.

The latest evacuation is part of the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to assist Nigerians who have opted to return home amid rising anti-immigration tensions in South Africa.

The repatriation comes ahead of a June 30 deadline reportedly issued by vigilante groups and other organisations calling for undocumented migrants to leave the country.

Earlier this month, President Bola Tinubu approved the voluntary evacuation programme for Nigerians willing to return home from South Africa.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also announced that five Air Peace evacuation flights were approved after more than 500 Nigerians registered for repatriation.

Before Tuesday’s operation, 328 Nigerians had already been evacuated in two batches. The first flight returned 262 Nigerians on June 11, while a second batch of 66 arrived in Lagos on June 25.

In a statement on Monday, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, confirmed that an Air Peace aircraft would depart Nigeria at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, June 29, 2026, and leave South Africa with the latest batch of evacuees at about 12:00 midnight South African time.

“The return flight is scheduled to depart South Africa at 12:00 midnight and is expected to arrive at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning. This will bring home 271 additional Nigerians who have volunteered to return,”  Ebienfa said, adding that 700 more would be evacuated, depending on the situation on ground in South Africa.

Corroborating him, Air Peace spokesperson, Mr Efe Osifo-Whiskey, said the airline was set to evacuate 271 Nigerians, but said the flight was yet to leave Nigeria as at 3:50pm yesterday due to inexplicable delays.

“The aircraft has not departed yet. They will let me know when it is time, but I do not know the reason for the delay. We are looking at evacuating 271 people, but let us see what happens when they arrive in Lagos.”

Meanwhile, security was heightened across parts of South Africa on Tuesday as police maintained a visible presence in major cities following anti-immigration demonstrations.

In Johannesburg, many businesses remained closed and security personnel were deployed across parts of the city as commuters went about their daily activities.

The protests were organised by a coalition of small political parties and citizen-led vigilante groups demanding the removal of undocumented migrants.

In Durban, groups of protesters dressed in traditional Zulu attire gathered in a public park, singing and chanting “Abahambe” (“Let them go”) while security operatives monitored the situation.

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A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday admitted activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, to fresh bail in the sum of N200 million, weeks after revoking his earlier bail over his failure to appear for trial.

Justice Muhammad Umar, in a ruling, directed Sowore to provide two sureties before the bail could take effect.

One of the sureties must be a traditional ruler from his community, while the second must own landed property within the Federal Capital Territory.

The judge also ordered the defendant to deposit his international passport with the court registrar pending the determination of the case.

After granting the application, Justice Umar handed Sowore over to his lawyers and adjourned further proceedings until Monday, July 6, when the defendant is expected to open his defence.

Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services on allegations bordering on cybercrime, following social media posts in which he allegedly referred to President Bola Tinubu as “a criminal.”

He has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.

The court revoked Sowore’s bail on June 16 and issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he failed to attend proceedings.

Sowore had explained that he was unable to appear because of a prior engagement in Lagos and sought an adjournment, but the prosecution, led by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), opposed the request, urging the court to proceed with the trial.

Following the revocation of his bail, Sowore challenged the bench warrant and sought the trial judge’s recusal.

The application was dismissed, after which he was remanded in the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his fresh bail application.

Delivering Tuesday’s ruling, Justice Umar restored the defendant’s bail on fresh terms, requiring him to meet the N200 million bail bond and fulfil the conditions attached before regaining his freedom.

Reacting shortly after the ruling, Sowore described the bail conditions as part of the authorities’ continued efforts against him but insisted they would not deter his movement.

He said, “There is no bus on earth that can stop this revolution. We warned them, but they would not listen. But now, it appears a little bit of common sense is returning to them, and as a result, I was granted bail, requiring a traditional ruler, somebody with property in Abuja, and N200m and my international passport.

“They have always been after the passport. So nobody can come after our movement. Nobody can stop the movement. Nobody can stop the idea whose time has come.

“What I want to tell Nigerians is that it is not about my freedom; it is about the liberation of the Nigerian people.”