The Federal Government has declared 63 Nigerians and 27 foreigners wanted for violating the quarantine provisions of the COVID-19 guidelines, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha has disclosed.
He, however, recalled that the Presidential Steering Committee on 1st May 2021 issued a Travel Advisory for passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey.
He said that , these precautionary measures were necessary step to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of concern and break the chain of transmission to the population in the country.
Mustapha said under the new measures, passengers arriving from/or that have visited any of the three countries within 14 days prior to the visit to Nigeria, are required to follow mandatory arrival quarantine and testing protocols in designated facilities.
“The PSC has however observed that while most of the arriving passengers dutifully observed the guidelines, some (Nigerians and foreigners) have violated them in contravention of the provisions of the CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) Health Regulations Protection, 2021.
“Accordingly, the underlisted persons who arrived in Nigeria between 8 May 2021 and 15 May 2021 through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja and whose names and passport numbers are displayed, have been declared Persons of Interest (POI) on account of posing considerable danger to overall public health and for the violation of Nigeria COVID-19 travel protocol by evading the mandatory 7-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries,” Mustapha said.
He added that members of the public were advised that these POI constitute an immediate health hazard to the society.
“They must therefore transport themselves safely, to the nearest state public health departments within 48hrs of this notice for immediate evaluation and call the Port Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health on 08036134672 or 08032461990 for further directions.
“The PSC shall in addition, take further steps to sanction these violators,” the SGF said.
He listed the sanctions to include disabling their travel passports for a period not less than one year; cancelation of visas/permits of foreigners that have abused Nigeria’s hospitality; and prosecution under the 2021 Health Protection Regulations.
He also said that additional list of Batch II defaulters shall be published subsequently.
Our correspondent reports that the breakdown of the 90 defaulters are 63 Nigerians, 26 Indians and one Danish (Dane).
Four of the Nigerian defaulters arrived through the Abuja airport while 42 arrived via the Lagos airport.
Seven other Nigerians listed under “Other Categories” all arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
