Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, has disclosed that the Federal Government has begun documenting the commercial businesses, vehicles, and real estate left behind by Nigerian returnees ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests in South Africa. Speaking during a live broadcast on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Ajayi stated that the state-backed evacuation program is designed to protect both human lives and the cross-border capital investments of its citizens. The mission will actively collaborate with South African authorities to verify these abandoned assets and pursue formal legal channels for financial compensation.
The announcement coincided with the arrival of another batch of 271 Nigerian evacuees at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, transported via an Air Peace Boeing 777 aircraft. Returning citizens recounted harrowing experiences of xenophobic intimidation, physical threats, and systemic looting, warning others against migrating to South Africa under the current climate. Addressing immigration status concerns, High Commissioner Ajayi strongly rejected claims that the majority of Nigerians in South Africa are undocumented, clarifying instead that thousands of law-abiding professionals and entrepreneurs have simply been caught in severe administrative backlogs and processing delays within South Africa’s immigration renewal systems.
