The Federal Government has delayed the fourth evacuation flight for Nigerians stranded in South Africa after engineers discovered cracks on the cockpit windscreen of the aircraft scheduled for the operation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Wednesday that the aircraft was grounded in Johannesburg as a safety precaution after the fault was detected before take-off.
Ministry spokesperson Kimiebi Ebienfa said Air Peace has been directed to deploy another aircraft later on Wednesday to complete the evacuation.
“The flight couldn’t take off because cracks were discovered on the windscreen in the cockpit. Air Peace will deploy another aircraft to South Africa later today to bring the returnees,” Ebienfa said, while apologising for the disruption.
The delay comes just a day after the Federal Government announced the final phase of its evacuation exercise for Nigerians stranded in South Africa following renewed xenophobic attacks and worsening security concerns.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, had earlier urged Nigerians whose lives were under threat to take advantage of the remaining evacuation flights. She also disclosed that the exercise was extended beyond the June 30 deadline approved by President Bola Tinubu because of the continued attacks.
Three evacuation flights have already been completed, while the delayed fourth operation was expected to return about 270 Nigerians from Johannesburg.
The evacuation followed the killings of two Nigerians in South Africa — Emeka Charles Iroegbu, who was allegedly killed by officers of the Tshwane Metro Police in Pretoria, and Musa Yunana Joe, popularly known as Big Joe, who was shot dead outside his shop in Witbank, Mpumalanga.
The Federal Government has condemned both killings and called on South African authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
Officials said a replacement aircraft would depart for Johannesburg as soon as possible to complete the evacuation.
