Covid-19: 90 persons of ‘immediate health hazard’ roam freely in Nigeria

90 Persons of Interest are roaming freely in Nigeria, the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on Covid-19 has announced, publishing their names the returning travellers who evaded the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.

63 of them are Nigerians while 27 are foreigners, according to the PSC Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, in a statement on Sunday.

Mustapha noted that the committee had issued a travel advisory on May 1 for passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India, and Turkey, saying the measures were necessary 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.

“The Presidential Steering Committee (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,” he said.

The erring persons, according to the SGF, arrived in Nigeria between May 8 and 15 through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

He added that they have been declared Persons of Interest (POI) on account of posing a considerable danger to overall public health and for the violation of the nation’s COVID-19 travel protocol by evading quarantine.

Mustapha advised Nigerians to be wary of such persons of interest, saying they constitute an immediate health hazard to the society.

He also asked the erring persons to transport themselves safely to the nearest state public health departments within the next 48 hours for 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 our hospitality; and prosecution under the 2021 Health Protection Regulations.

“Additional list of Batch II defaulters shall be published in a subsequent announcement by the PSC,” the committee chairman stated.