Indigenous airline, Air Peace has offered to evacuate Nigerians in South Africa following recent xenophobic attacks in that country.
The offer, the airline said was a sign of its solidarity with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The Chairman of the airline, Allen Onyema made the announcement while sympathizing with the Nigerian victims who lost their lives and properties in the attacks.
According to him, the airline decided to bring back Nigerian in support of the action already taken by the federal government.
In reaction to the attacks in South Africa, the Buhari administration has recalled Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa and along with some other African leaders who pulled out of World Economic Summit taking place in that country.
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on September 4, 2019, Air Peace expressed readiness to evacuate Nigerians who are willing to leave the country and said that the airline would dispatch its flights to Johannesburg once the arrangement has been completed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa is an unfortunate incident and we cannot fold our hands and watch our fellow Nigerians be killed by South Africans.
“To this end, Air Peace is willing to support the Nigerian government’s effort in this matter by deploying our B777aircraft immediately to South Africa to bring Nigerians back home.
“We humbly plead with the federal government to please inform the Nigerian embassy and the South African government to rescue the stranded Nigerians by transporting them to the airport to allow Air Peace evacuate them back to Nigeria,” the airline said
Reacting to the proposal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, welcomed the offer and said it would be a relief to government and Nigerians in South Africa who might be stranded.
