The Federal Government on Thursday declared additional 132 persons wanted for violating COVID-19 travel guidelines.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, made this known in statement.
The list of the wanted persons comprises of 75 males and 57 females who are all Nigerians, who arrived the country through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
According to Mustapha, the 132 violators flouted Nigeria’s COVID-19 travel protocol by evading the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.
A travel advisory was issued by the PSC on COVID-19 on May 1, 2021 for passengers travelling to Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey.
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According to him, these precautionary measures were a necessary step to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of the virus.
“Under the new measures, passengers arriving from/or that have visited any of these three countries within 14 days prior to the visit to Nigeria, are required to follow mandatory arrival quarantine and testing protocols in designated facilities.
“The 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,” Mustapha said.
He added, “Members of the public are by this notice advised that these persons of interest constitute an immediate health hazard to the society. 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.
“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 Nigeria’s hospitality, and prosecution under the 2021 Health Protection Regulations.”
