The Nigeria Immigration Service has asked the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), to establish isolation centres at border Communities between Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon.
The service says it has imposed strict entry restrictions at all border Communities in Benue State, North Central Nigeria as thousands of Cameroonians to troop into the country for asylum.
The Comptroller, Nigeria Immigration Service in Benue State, Mr. Oko-Jaja Adango who announced the new restrictions at Abande Village, a border Community between Nigeria and Cameroon stated that Cameroonians seeking asylum in Nigeria at all entry points must undergo a supervised 14 days quarantine.
According to him, these new restrictions became necessary due to concerns about possible trans-border spread of Coronavirus infections following an increase in the influx of Southern Cameroonians seeking refuge in some neighbouring states in Nigeria, particularly Taraba, Benue, and Cross River States.
“We are at Abande control post, Benue State. We need an isolation center for those who may come in here. This is the frontier between Nigeria and Cameroon. You can see that this makeshift bridge links us to Cameroon. You can imagine that as rickety as it looks, its’ still giving service to bring people into Nigeria and this is where Immigration Officers and other agencies operate in the control of the movement of persons’’.
‘’Now that we have the issue of COVID-19 and the borders are closed, we do not expect that people should cross the borders. But on the event that they do come around, we are trying to arrange a system where they are processed by the medical team’’.
According to the Immigration boss, the distance between Nigeria and Cameroon will not be a barrier to the spread of the disease across the borders.
‘’ I understand Cameroon is still far from here and if you have to block them not to enter from here, definitely, by the time we turn our eyes, they will still enter another place. So, it is better to accept them and send them to where they will be processed and cleared of COVID-19 so that they don’t become agents of infection into the country’’.
Mr. Oko-Jaja told Voice of Nigeria Correspondent, Aloysius Umalo in an interview that his visit to the border was to enlighten members of the Community about the pandemic and to also strengthen control measures for people crossing the border.
The Immigration Comptroller reaffirmed the service’s commitment to work closely with relevant bodies for optimal results.
‘’I am here to beef up the control measure of the movement of persons. I have met with SEMA, I have met with the State Committee on COVID-19 and I am ready to work with them so that we’ll know how to collaborate and achieve the goal of stopping the Coronavirus, a disease that continues to baffle some of the greatest minds in the world.
Source: VON
