The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, has disclosed that over 27,000 passengers from abroad have arrived the country since the Lagos and Abuja Airports were re-opened on September 5.
Aliyu said 18,000 passengers came in through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while 9,000 persons came in through the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.
Aliyu stated this during a town hall webinar meeting on Saturday organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and hosted by the NIDCOM Chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
This was contained in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, titled, ‘Over 27,000 passengers arrive Nigeria despite strict procedures,’ issued by the NIDCOM spokesman, Abdul-Rahman Balogun.
The PTF coordinator explained that the task force came up with what people considered as stringent procedures “because it was imperative to limit the importation of COVID-19 to Nigeria, prevent transmission during the flight and reduce the quarantine period.”
He told the Nigerians in the diaspora who participated in the webinar that public laboratories were not allowed to conduct free testing as the Federal Government cannot afford it, stressing that it was not sustainable.
“It is not something that government can afford; we will run out of test kits,” he said, adding that the government was trying to push the cost of PCR down for private laboratories who will in turn work within the travel sector line.
He added that the advantage of testing before boarding was to stop people with COVID-19 from coming to Nigeria as the test was expected to be done 120 hours maximum before boarding.
He also advised those travelling out of Nigeria to enquire from the country they are travelling to if COVID-19 test was a requirement for entry.
Dabiri-Erewa said the commission organised the webinar townhall meeting to address the complaints and frustration encountered by some Nigerians in the diaspora. She promised that everything would be done to ease the difficulty being encountered by those coming into the country.
Pix: Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos
