The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator
Smart Adeyemi, on Monday said the National Assembly and the Ministry of
Aviation were considering banning flights from the United Kingdom, the United
States and other countries with high rates of COVID-19.
Adeyemi, who stated this in an interview with one of our
correspondents in Abuja, said a decision
on the issue would be announced next week.
The Federal Government’s plan may not be unconnected with
pressures on it to stop further spread of coronavirus by banning flights from
nations with high rates of the virus.
Recall that the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Prof Innocent Ujah, had in an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, said travellers from the UK and the US were worsening COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.
The NMA president stated, “Government knows that they
(travellers from the UK and the US) are the ones responsible for increase in
cases and the results have shown that and government knows what they should
do.”
Although the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had on
Thursday imposed fresh requirements on passengers from the UK and South Africa,
flights from the two countries were not banned.
The PTF only opened registers for travellers from the two
countries because of deadlier strains of coronavirus discovered there.
It, however, said
there were no new strains of the virus in Nigeria. But there are fears that travellers who obtained fake
COVID-19 results could have brought the new virus into the country.
According to worldometers.info, as of 6:55pm on Monday, the
US had recorded 19,589,952 COVID-19 cases with 341,332 deaths.
The UK had 2,329,730 COVID-19 cases with 71,109 deaths.
Sweden had 396,048 cases with 8,279 recorded.
As of Sunday, Nigeria had recorded 84,414 cases of the virus
with 1,254 deaths. But deaths from the virus have increased sharply since the
second wave started last month.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control had said after a drop
in the death rate from September to November, it went up to 74 this month.
Adeyemi, in the interview, said the National
Assembly and the Federal Government were concerned about the second wave of
COVID-19.
He stated that the joint National Assembly Committees on
Aviation, the Aviation Ministry and agencies in the sector had been holding
regular meetings in the past few days on the matter.
He said the meetings were seriously discussing possible
impacts of the proposed ban and other associated issues.
Adeyemi said, “We are still trying to study the situation so
as to know the appropriate steps to take. It is a very sad situation no doubt.
“The National Assembly and the Aviation Ministry are looking
at what really should be done on the call to ban some of the flights coming
in, not only from the United
Kingdom, but also other countries where
the pandemic spreads are more severe.
“The National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation is
discussing with the Ministry of Aviation and we are looking at what can be done
and the right steps to be taken.
“COVID-19 is of great concern to everyone and it has been
proven that it is real. Nigeria as a country has been able to contain the
situation because our people are very conscious of the protocols.
“The fact that we are experiencing the second wave is a
concern. So, the ministry and the
National Assembly are considering an outright ban of flights from the pandemic
prone countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, the Asian
countries, Sweden, among others.
“We have been studying the situation. We would arrive at a conclusion
in the next few days. We are looking at the figures, the rate of infection, the
manner of infection and government response.
“We are studying the implications of the outright ban of
flights and whether it would be of any importance to the containment of the
virus.
“We have protocols for visitors arriving in Nigeria which we
make sure are being strictly observed. Notwithstanding, in the next few days,
we would know what to do.
“The Senate and the House of Representatives committees on
Aviation, the Ministry of Aviation, and all the agencies under the ministry have
been engaging in regular meetings over the situation.
“By next week, we would come up with a definite conclusion
on whether there would be an outright ban of flights from the affected
countries or the next steps to take.”
FG won’t do anything that will affect health of Nigerians –
Aviation ministry
When contacted, the Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Aviation, James Oduadu, said a possible flight ban had to be in tandem with neighbouring countries.
He said, “If Nigeria is going to do a flight ban, it will be
in alliance with our neighbouring countries. I assure you that we are
monitoring the situation very closely. The government will not do anything that
will affect the health of Nigerians.
“The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority released a notice to
air operators two days ago on some passengers coming in from the United Kingdom
and South Africa. Apart from that, I am not aware of any ban on flights. At the
moment, I am not aware of any flight ban. The situation may change tomorrow,
but currently, I am not aware.”
Fresh flight ban can hurt economy, stakeholders warn
An aviation consultant, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, told The PUNCH that he was not in support of any ban on flights as long as the guidelines set by the NCAA were still adhered to.
He said, “What the government has done is to increase
surveillance and strict observation of passengers. The protocols are still the
same. That of the United Kingdom and South Africa is 96 hours. You are also
required to have a fly permit.
“Although people are clamouring for a total ban of flights.
I am not in support of the total ban. In order to ensure that the airlines
comply, an additional fine of $3,500 has been imposed on airlines on each
passenger that violates the protocol. I think these guidelines are good for now and we have to increase
surveillance.”
The spokesman for Dana Air, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, asked the
government to continue to enforce
COVID-19 protocols.
He said, “The best thing should be the enforcement of
protocols. A flight ban could hurt the economy at this point in time. For us,
we are still keeping to the protocols 100 per cent. From the entrance of the
airport to the final boarding and onto the aircraft, the protocols are still
there. Travellers are to use hand sanitisers on the flight.”
Lagos begins manhunt for fake COVID-19 certificates sellers
In Lagos State, the Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin
Abayomi, on Monday raised the alarm that international travellers in the state
were gaining access to fake COVID-19 certificates.
Abayomi, at a briefing in Alausa, said the state government
was putting machinery in place to apprehend those doing such things.
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