Nigeria grounds 100 travellers for six months for refusing to take coronavirus test

NIGERIAN government officials have published the passport numbers of 100 travellers who failed to undergo the mandatory Covid-19 test upon arriving in the country from overseas who will now be barred from travelling for six months.

As part of measure to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, passengers who fly into Nigeria have to take a mandatory Covid-19 test within seven days of arrival. If they test negative, they are then supposed to go into isolation for a week before mingling with the general population.

However, some travellers have ignored these protocols and have just landed and got about their business as if Covid-19 does not exist. Exasperated with this recklessness, the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 has published the names of 100 defaulters and banned them from travelling between January 1 and June 30.

Boss Mustapha, the PTF chairman, said: “The PTF has placed travel restrictions on the first 100 passengers for non-compliance to the mandatory Day Seven post-arrival Covid-19 test. These restrictions started from January 1, 2021 and would last till June 30, 2021."

He added that the affected passengers have been notified and will be prevented from travelling out of the country during the period. Nigeria has recorded over 85,000 Covid-19 infections including more than 1,200 associated fatalities, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.