The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 has
accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of adopting double standards in
enforcement of its COVID-19 protocol towards Nigerians.
Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, made the allegation
during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.
The PSC said that the UAE prevented Nigerians from
travelling directly from their country to Dubai and other of its cities.
Sirika said that investigations into the situation revealed that the COVID-19 protocol set for Nigeria by the UAE was not the same as what it offered other West African countries despite the nation’s (Nigeria) effort in fighting the virus.
According to him, this is the reason many Nigerians
travelled through neighbouring countries like the Benin Republic and Ghana.
“The story is they (UAE) have a protocol that discriminates
against Nigeria and it was specifically targeted at Nigeria and we said no, and
it’s on behalf of the people,” Sirika said.
“We’ve gone through the ministry of foreign affairs, now
we’re been mandated by the taskforce (PSC) jointly with the foreign affairs to
resolve this impose.
“Nigeria has no issue with Emirates, but against the
preferential treatment.”
Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation
(SGF), said the federal government will continue discussions with
representatives of the UAE on the issue.
“The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Aviation will
continue to dialogue with the representatives of the UAE to resolve the issue
of Emirates flights between Nigeria and the UAE,” he said.
“Protection of the interest of Nigerians remains our primary
focus.”
The issue of COVID-19 safety protocol between Nigeria and
UAE has lingered since the beginning of this year.
In February, Emirates directed Nigerian travellers at the
Lagos and Abuja airports to conduct rapid COVID-19 tests before departure,
which led to a ban on Emirates flights in Nigeria.
The ban was later lifted after the airline agreed to stop
the rapid antigen tests, however, it was reintroduced the next month, in which
the federal government explained that Emirates had continued to conduct rapid
antigen tests for passengers before departure from Nigeria.
The federal government suspended inbound and outbound
flights of the airline, few days after the Dubai Supreme Committee of Crisis
and Disaster Management eased travel restrictions to Nigerian passengers under
a new COVID-19 health and safety protocol.
In August, UAE lifted the ban on transit passenger flights
from six countries, including Nigeria, effective August 5, however, Emirates
announced that flights to and from Nigeria will remain suspended over
diplomatic rows.
Over the months, the Dubai flagship carrier has extended
resumption more than six times.
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