300 more Nigerians repatriated after anti-migrant violence in SAfrica
More than 300 Nigerians were flown home from South Africa on Wednesday in the second evacuation in a week after a wave of anti-migrant violence there claimed at least 12 lives.
"They're coming off the plane," said Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman of the national emergency management agency, adding that he was not able to give an exact figure for the evacuees but he had been told there were 314.
A large crowd greeted the evacuees at the airport of the country's economic capital Lagos after they disembarked around 9 pm (2200 GMT).
Last week nearly 200 other Nigerians were repatriated aboard a specially chartered plane following the violence that rocked Johannesburg and surrounding areas.
A series of deadly attacks on foreigners included many directed against Nigerian-owned businesses and properties.
Hundreds of shops were looted or destroyed.
Some 100,000 Nigerians are estimated to reside in South Africa, according to the Nigerian consulate in Johannesburg, which says however that it does not have exact figures.
Police arrest 110 suspects for violence and unrest
This comes after looters brought parts of Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and the Johannesburg Central Business District (CBD) to a standstill on Monday. In Gauteng, close to 90 suspects were arrests in connection with public violence, malicious damage to property and theft. KwaZulu-Natal police intensified their presence along major routes in the province following several attacks on trucks this weekend.