From Sunday, December 5, 2021, all inbound travellers entering Nigeria will be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken 48 hours before departure from their country of origin.
This is part of the measures agreed upon by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, which has just reviewed international travel protocol for outbound and inbound international travellers.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Chairman of the PSC and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha.
The revised protocol also requires non-vaccinated and partially vaccinated international travellers to self-isolate for seven days as well as take the day-seven post-arrival COVID-19 PCR test.
Revision of the travel protocols follows the emergence of the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, three cases of which have been confirmed in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control had said on Tuesday that it confirmed the Omicron variant, also known as the B.1.1.529 lineage, in travellers from South Africa, where the variant is said to have originated from.
The development came as Canada announced a ban on travellers from Nigeria and two other African countries – Egypt and Malawi, raising the number of African countries banned by the North American country over fears that this new variant of COVID-19 could spread to it.
