The fourth evacuation flight arranged by the Federal Government to repatriate Nigerians from South Africa has been delayed following the discovery of a technical fault on the aircraft scheduled for the operation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the flight was unable to depart from Johannesburg after cracks were detected on the cockpit windscreen during routine safety inspections.
In a statement, the ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, apologised for the delay and assured affected passengers that alternative arrangements had been made.
According to him, Air Peace will deploy another aircraft to Johannesburg to complete the evacuation.
“We have a situation in Johannesburg regarding the operation of the fourth evacuation flight. The aircraft could not take off because cracks were discovered on the cockpit windscreen during safety checks. Air Peace will deploy another aircraft later today to bring the returnees,” Ebienfa said.
The delayed flight was expected to evacuate 270 Nigerians from Johannesburg.
The Federal Government has so far evacuated at least 859 Nigerians from South Africa following renewed xenophobic attacks targeting foreign nationals, particularly other Africans, amid growing anti-immigration protests in parts of the country.