[Mhiz Rebecca]

While the Nigerian government
criticises South Africa’s handling of
recent xenophobic attacks on
Nigerians, the South African
Government has deported 97
Nigerians for committing various
offences in the country.
The property of several Nigerians
and other sub-Saharan Africans have
been destroyed across South Africa
in xenophobic attacks that have been
condemned by various governments.
While asking its citizens to stop the
attacks, the South African
government has also blamed illegal
immigrants from Nigeria and other
countries, as well immigrants who
commit crime for the attacks. The
government has thus decided to
clamp down on such immigrants.
The 97 deported Nigerians landed at
the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Lagos on
Monday night in a chartered aircraft
with the registration number
GBB710 from Johannesburg.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports
that they were made up of 95 males
and two females.
Joseph Alabi, the spokesperson of the
Lagos Airport Police Command,
confirmed the development.
An immigration source told NAN on
condition of anonymity that six of the
deportees were returned to the
country for drug offences while 10
were arrested and deported for
other criminal offences .
The others were said to have
committed immigration offences in
the Southern African country.
All the deportees were profiled by officials of the
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) while those
deported for drug related offences were handed
over to the Police for further investigation.
The Federal Government had also on Monday
evacuated 41 Nigerian girls who were trafficked
to Mali for sex and labour exploitation.
Six of the suspected human traffickers were also
apprehended and brought back to the country for
prosecution.