May 28, 2021

The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC), on COVID-19 has given 132 persons 48-hours to turn themselves to the nearest state public health departments for violating the quarantine provisions of the COVID-19 guidelines.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman PSC on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, made this known in a statement.

“The 132 violators of the advisory, entered through Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

“Members of the public should be on the lookout”, he said, describing the persons as immediate health hazard.

”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,” he said.

The PSC, on May 1, issued a travel advisory, instructing travellers arriving from India, Brazil and Turkey, or who had visited the countries within 14 days of their trip to Nigeria, to observe certain protocols, including compulsory quarantine and testing in designated facilities on arrival.

However, the committee observed that many travellers had been violating the advisory, leading to earlier announcement of 90 violators as wanted persons on May 9.

Mustapha, said that the 132 additional violators of the advisory, entered through Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

He advised members of the public to be on the lookout, describing the persons as immediate health hazard.

“These precautionary measures are a necessary step to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of concern and break the chain of transmission to the population.

“Under the new measures, passengers arriving from/or that have visited any of these three countries within fourteen (14) days prior to the visit to Nigeria, are required to follow mandatory arrival quarantine and testing protocols in designated facilities.

”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. These steps 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.”(NAN)