Additional 132 persons have been declared wanted by the federal government for violating COVID-19 guidelines.
The announcement was made by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha on Thursday May 27, few days after 90 persons were also declared wanted for same offence.
Recalling how the PSC on COVID-19 issued a Travel advisory for Passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey on 1st May, 2021, Mustapha noted that such precautionary measures are necessary step to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of the virus.
The 132 violators have been declared Persons of Interest (POI) on account of posing considerable danger to overall public health and for the violation of Nigeria COVID-19 travel protocol by evading the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.
Mustapha said;
“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.
“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.”
