The Federal Government has officially concluded its high-stakes emergency repatriation exercise, safely bringing home a final tally of 1,174 stranded Nigerian nationals from South Africa. The comprehensive, state-funded operation was launched in direct response to severe security anxieties triggered by anti-immigration vigilante groups in South Africa. These groups issued strict, public ultimatums demanding that foreign nationals leave the country, raising immediate fears of a massive wave of coordinated xenophobic attacks. A Breakdown of the Six-Batch Rescue Mission Coordinated under the strict directive of President Bola Tinubu, the evacuation was executed seamlessly across six individual airlifts to minimize logistical bottlenecks at the High Commission in Pretoria. The multi-agency task force—combining efforts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) —brought citizens back ...