South Africa deports 97 Nigerians

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria (right) and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria (right) and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa

The South African Government has deported 97 Nigerians for committing various offences in the country.

It comes after weeks of xenophobic attacks and protest against Nigerians and other foreigners accused of crime in the rainbow nation.

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.

They were made up of 95 males and two females.

Spokesperson of the Lagos Airport Police Command, Joseph Alabi, 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.