South Africa Apologizes Over Nigerian Deportation

PRETORIA, South Africa — South Africa has apologized for a mass deportation of Nigerians, saying officials at Johannesburg's main airport did not properly check their health certificates.

At a news conference in Pretoria Thursday, deputy foreign minister Ebrahim Ibrahim said: "We wish to humbly apologize to them, and we have." he also said, “We are apologizing because we deported a number of people who should not have been deported.”

“Thereafter we will move quickly to ensure that we put machinery in place so that it will be a lasting solution, because we don’t want this to happen again because of our bilateral relations,” he said.
“We felt it was un-African to have deported well over 125 Nigerians in a space of two days,” he added.

Travellers at the arrival wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport II Ikeja in Lagos.

Two diplomats from the Nigerian High Commission accompanied Ibrahim to the news conference, but refused to comment beyond a joint statement that described tit-for-tat deportations the two countries say should not affect their relations.

On March 2, South Africa deported 125 Nigerians who, according to airport health authorities, carried fraudulent yellow fever cards. Since then, authorities in Lagos have deported South Africans, raising health concerns.

“What you see playing out is what we call xenophobia by South Africans against all Africans — not just Nigerians — including even those from their neighbouring countries,” Ashiru said.
Nigeria had been certified as free of yellow fever by the World Health Organization, the minister said.

“That is why countries in Europe and the US do not demand yellow fever cards from Nigerian travellers,” he added.

According to our findings, Nigerian Senator, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN)   (Picture above) was among those deported from South Africa with 125 other Nigerians on Friday 2nd March for supposedly possessing "fake" yellow cards.


Nigeria also responded by deporting 84 South Africans within two days in a move to retaliate .

South Africa’s government however promised on Thursday to investigate why airport officials barred 125 Nigerians from entering the country which, sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries.