The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has launched a humanitarian effort to bring at least 500 Nigerians home from South Africa.
The first 100 returnees arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Sept. 24 after flying from Johannesburg. The church is funding the operation after an appeal from Nigeria’s diplomatic mission in South Africa on behalf of citizens seeking help returning.
Pastor Belemina Obunge, who chairs the RCCG Task Force for the Reception of Nigerian Returnees from South Africa, said RCCG General Overseer Pastor Enoch Adeboye approved the initiative on humanitarian grounds.
Obunge said the returnees had been documented by the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria and South African immigration authorities. He stressed that the program was open beyond RCCG members.
“Nigerians of different faiths are included,” he said. Obunge also called on state governments to support returnees as they resettle in their home communities.
Based in Ogun State, Nigeria, RCCG is widely regarded as Africa’s largest Pentecostal denomination, with an estimated 9 million baptized members in about 50,000 congregations across 147 countries.
RCCG is paying for flights from Johannesburg to Lagos, while Nigerian government agencies are responsible for receiving, processing and transporting returnees to their respective states.
The returnees are being flown home in batches because of documentation and clearance procedures. At least 500 adults are expected to benefit, with the final number potentially higher once children and infants are included.
The church initiative is taking place alongside a broader Nigerian government effort to repatriate citizens amid renewed concerns over xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks in South Africa.
Nigeria began evacuations in June after fresh tensions involving foreign nationals. By early September, the government said 1,640 Nigerians had returned, including 1,385 whose travel was fully funded by the state and 255 who received support from private donors.
RCCG announced Sept. 4 that it had donated more than $260,000 toward the return of 500 Nigerians. Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the money would fund 500 one-way airline tickets.
The ministry welcomed the contribution, saying it would help Nigerians facing difficult conditions in South Africa and showed how faith-based organizations and government agencies can work together in humanitarian responses.
