The passengers were part of around 1,000 people who the Nigerian consulate in South Africa says have registered to be repatriated.
The returnees arrived aboard an Air Peace evacuation flight from Johannesburg and were received by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, on behalf of the Federal Government.
The Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Ambassador Alexander Ajayi, accompanied the 268 passengers from Pretoria and formally handed them over to the minister upon arrival in Lagos.
President Bola Tinubu approved five evacuation flights to be operated by Air Peace for the exercise.
The evacuees underwent documentation and profiling procedures upon arrival before being reunited with their families.
The evacuation follows an intensifying wave of anti-migrant sentiment in South Africa, where an unemployment rate of more than 30 per cent has fuelled xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals.
Protest marches have been held in major cities, with groups carrying traditional weapons marching through industrial zones demanding the removal of undocumented migrants.
Tensions escalated sharply after a coalition of citizen groups issued a public ultimatum demanding that all undocumented foreign nationals vacate the country by 30 June.
Although Pretoria dismissed the deadline as unofficial, the announcement triggered immediate anxiety, prompting several African nations including Ghana, Malawi and Mozambique to begin their own repatriation efforts.
The ministry disclosed that the ongoing screening exercise for Nigerians willing to voluntarily return home has been extended to Sunday, 14 June 2026, to accommodate more affected persons.
The Federal Government reiterated its commitment to the welfare and protection of Nigerians living abroad, describing the evacuation as a demonstration of its citizen-centred foreign policy.
