THE Federal Government has declared 90 international travellers from Brazil, India, United Arab Emirates and Turkey wanted, for violating the provisions of the COVID-19 Health Protection Regulations.
The travellers, who arrived in Nigeria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, between May 8 and 15, comprised 63 Nigerians and 27 foreigners.
Chairman Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 Boss Mustapha, on Sunday night, declared the 90 travellers Persons of Interest (PoI), explaining that they posed considerable danger to overall public health for violating the country’s COVID-19 travel protocol by evading the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.
“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,” Mustapha said.
Failure to comply with this directive within 48 hours, the PSC said it would take further steps to sanction these violators, including disabling their travel passports for a period not less than one year, cancelation of visas/permits of foreigners that had abused Nigeria’s hospitality, and prosecution under the Covid-19 Health Protection Regulations 2021.
Earlier in the year, a six-month travel restriction from February 5 to July 30 had been imposed on 100 travellers for failing to comply with the Covid-19 protocol.
The PSC, on May 1, issued a travel advisory for passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey. The advisory requires passengers arriving from/or that have visited any of these countries within 14 days prior to the visit to Nigeria to follow mandatory arrival quarantine and testing protocol in designated facilities.
See the full list of the 90 travellers below: