The Nigerian Government says it has sanctioned 100 travellers who failed to undergo the compulsory COVID-19 test after returning into the country, placing them on a travel ban.
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, in a Twitter post on Saturday, said the travel restriction was necessitated by the travellers’ non-compliance to the mandatory seven-day post-arrival COVID-19 test.
In one of its ways to reopen its economy after the pandemic lockdown, Nigeria, like most countries, issued an admonitory for inbound travellers to observe a seven-day isolation upon their return to the country after which they would undergo the PCR repeat test to show their health status.
Boss Mustapha, Secretary to Government of the Federation who doubles as the Chairman of the PTFÂ had previously announced that punishment would be meted out on defaulters of the COVID-19 protocols, according to a Premium Times report.
He warned that their passports would be suspended till June 2021 to serve as a deterrent to others.
âWith effect from 1st January 2021 the passports of the first 100 passengers that failed to take their day seven post-arrival PCR test will be published in the national dailies,â Mustapha said at a PTF briefing last year.
Going by its plans, the PTF published on its official website, the passport details of the first 100 defaulters on Saturday night.
The PTF said âthe affected passengers have been notified and will be prevented from travelling out of the country for the next six months.â
The move is seen as a way to help flatten the COVID-19 curve as the second wave of the pandemic puts the country at risk.
Health experts and the government have consistently warned that any breach in COVID-19 protocols may put people at risk of the virus as cases continue to surge.
As of Saturday, Nigeria has recorded 89,163 cases of the virus with 74,789 patients recovering from the virus but 1,302 people have died of its complications, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
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