RCCG receives 100 Nigerian returnees from South Africa

From left: Pastor Belemina Obunge, Chairman of the RCCG Task Force on Repatriation and other officials of RCCG after briefing journalists at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

…says beneficiaries not selected on membership basis

By Olayinka Latona

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) on Thursday received the first batch of 100 Nigerians returning from South Africa under a humanitarian intervention through which the church is funding air transportation for 500 Nigerian nationals stranded in the country.

The first batch arrived at about 8:30 p.m. from Johannesburg and was received at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The intervention was approved by the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, following an appeal for assistance for Nigerians who needed to return home from South Africa.

Chairman of the RCCG Task Force for the Reception of Nigerian Returnees from South Africa, Pastor Belemina Obunge, said the church’s intervention covered the cost of air transportation from Johannesburg to Lagos, while relevant government agencies would handle the reception and onward movement of the returnees.

Obunge said additional batches would arrive as the necessary processes were completed.

He commended the Nigerian diplomatic missions in South Africa for initiating and coordinating the collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

Addressing concerns over the selection of beneficiaries, Obunge said the returnees were not selected solely on the basis of membership of the RCCG.

He explained that the Nigerian diplomatic mission in South Africa was working with the South African authorities on the profiling and documentation of Nigerians eligible to return.

“The Nigerian High Commission in South Africa is working with Home Affairs in South Africa, doing the profiling and documentation. Those who go through that process are being brought home,” he said.

Obunge added that the returnees were from different religious backgrounds.

“They are Muslims, Christians, all religions,” he said.

He said the church was working with government agencies to ensure that the returnees were properly received and transported to their respective destinations.

According to him, the church’s task force was at the airport to welcome the returnees, offer prayers and encouragement, and facilitate their orderly handover to the appropriate government agencies.

On continued support for the returnees after their arrival in Nigeria, Obunge said some state governments had already begun taking responsibility for their citizens.

He urged other state governments to welcome their returning citizens and support their reintegration into society.

“We use this opportunity to urge the states and governments to welcome their people home and see what they can do, as some have already started doing, to assist with the effective reintegration of their people into society,” he said.

The Chairman of the RCCG Central Mission Board, Pastor Amos Emoron, who led the church task force to receive the returnees alongside Obunge, also said the evacuees were selected without prejudice to religion, tribe or affiliation.

Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), among other relevant agencies, received the returnees at the airport.