The Nigerian government on Saturday handed down a six-month travel ban on 100 citizens who shunned the compulsory COVID-19 test on their arrival into the country.
Those affected by the ban will not be allowed to travel out of the country earlier than June 30, 2021, according to the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.
“The PTF has placed travel restrictions on the first 100 passengers for non-compliance to the mandatory Day 7 post-arrival COVID-19 test,” the PTF tweeted.
The restriction took effect from January 1, 2021 and will end at the end of June, it explained.
Although the PTF did not disclose the names of the defaulters, it however released a list containing their passport numbers in the tweet.
All those involved had been personally contacted, the task force said.
Also commenting on the same issue, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said: “Based on presidential authority, travel restrictions are being placed on the following passports due to non-compliance to the mandatory Day 7 post-arrival COVID-19 PCR tests.
“Defaulting passengers have been notified and will be prevented from travelling out of the country during this period.”
The Nigerian government is reinstating all Covid-19 protocols, some of which had been played down, following the resurgence in the incidence of the virus infection.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, in a tweet, said: “We understand Nigerians’ urge to relax on compliance measures for #COVID19 prevention after a difficult year. The challenge is: this virus doesn’t recognise human necessities to celebrate.
“Therefore we’ve sustained the response and must collectively take responsibility.”
“Thank you Nigerians and our partners for the support, as we led the public health response to the #COVID19 pandemic and other disease outbreaks in 2020.
“As the pandemic continues, please take responsibility. We remain committed to our mandate in protecting the health of Nigerians.”
Mustafa on Tuesday listed the challenges being faced from the states by the PTF.
“You will recall that we recently issued some protocols to states which a number of states have been actively implementing. We thank these states and urge others to follow suit.
“Closely related to these protocols is the fact that the strategy of testing to detect and treat remains central to the role states are expected to play.
“Data show that despite the resources already made available to sub-national entities, testing is very low across states in varying degrees. This is not helping our national response.
“Indeed, some states have not reported any infections in several weeks. Reports received also point to the fact that laboratories recently established in the states are not working optimally.
“You will recall that we moved from two laboratories to about 90 (public & private) located in all states of the federation.
“Their inability to function optimally has resulted in unacceptable levels of delay in receiving results and pressure on the National Reference Labs.
“We wish to urge all states to reopen all laboratories and ensure that testing is expanded and turnaround time for results is substantially reduced.
‘In the same vein, states should please keep their isolation/treatment centres open because of the rising cases of infection nationwide.”
