The senate has condemned the ban slammed on travellers from
Nigeria by the UK over Omicron, a COVID-19 variant.
The upper legislative chamber’s condemnation followed a
motion sponsored by Ike Ekweremadu, senator representing Enugu west.
The UK put the country on its red list at the weekend after
Nigeria recorded three cases of the Omicron variant.
While moving his motion on Tuesday, Ekweremadu said
Nigeria’s efforts in curbing the spread of COVID-19 is satisfactory, adding
that the country has the lowest number of cases of the infection.
“The decision by the
British government to include Nigeria in their COVID-19 list, with its
concomitant implications, will affect many citizens of Nigeria, who had planned
to spend their Christmas and New Year holiday with their families,” the senator
said.
“Nigerians with genuine needs to visit the UK within this
period will be denied visa and those with visa will not be allowed to enter the
UK.
“Nigerians have consistently complied with all the COVID-19
protocols required by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UK government for
travellers prior to this ban.
“Targeting African
countries, especially in the COVID-19 travel ban, amounts to profiling and
discrimination as well as an attack on our cordial diplomatic relationship with
the UK.”
The legislator said hoarding of vaccines and the inability
of low-income countries to get them should be addressed globally.
The senate asked the federal government to engage the UK
authorities with a view to reversing the decision.
The motion was adopted by the senate after it was put to a
voice vote by Senate President Ahmad Lawan.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com