The president of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Smart Nwobi, has said that over 300 Nigerians are still awaiting repatriation amid anti-immigration and xenophobic tensions in the rainbow country.

Mr Nwobi, who stated this in an interview in Pretoria on Tuesday, said many Nigerians willing to depart the country were stopped and arrested at airport due to visa violations and overstays in the country.

He stated, “As you know, the federal government promised five flights to evacuate Nigerians. This is the fifth batch of those promised to be evacuated. Despite those on the list, there are still quite a number of Nigerians willing to be evacuated. We are hopeful that a new inventory of people left will be taken.

“But from our union, we still have about 300 Nigerians who have indicated interest to return home. There is other issue of power who want to buy their own tickets and repatriate themselves. The issue encountered at the airport is once they buy tickets and get emergency travelling document, the airport officials will not allow them to go because they are said to have violated their visa or overstayed in the country.”

Mr Nwobi further appealed to the South African government to grant Nigerians willing to self-deport a waiver to enable them do so without being arrested and detained.

“People who want to voluntarily repatriate them should be allowed to do so without being arrested or detained. We have a lot of backlogs in the system. The police are now being overwhelmed. The courts are overwhelmed. These are the issues. 

“Can there be a waiver for anyone who want to self-deport to do do without being stopped at the airport? These are the issues we want to bring to the attention of the South Africa’s home minister so that they can be addressed,” the president added.

Mr Nwobi’s appeal came as the federal government evacuated 284 Nigerians from South Africa as its fourth phase of the evacuation process, bringing the total evacuees to 1,085.

Previous evacuation flights brought home 262 Nigerians on June 11, 271 on June 30, and 268 on July 3, before the latest operation on July 9.

On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said a total of 315 Nigerians would be evacuated on Wednesday, 15th July 2026, in a final evacuation move by the federal government.

Mr Ebienfa reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to the welfare, protection and safe return of Nigerians embroiled in the xenophobic incidents in South Africa.