FG Releases New List of Violators of COVID-19 Guidelines

The federal government has released another list of 132 Nigerian travellers wanted for breaching the Health Protection Regulations 2021 in relation to the COVID-19 protocol.

The Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, who also doubles as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) , Mr. Boss Mustapha, released the name of the defaulters late yesterday in a statement.

This brings to 222 the total number of international travellers declared as persons of interest by the federal government since the first list was announced on May 23.

PSC said all the latest violators arrived in Nigeria through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

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He said the defaulters were declared Persons of Interest (POI) because they constituted considerable danger to the overall public health by evading the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries- Brazil, India and Turkey.

According to him, these precautionary measures were a necessary step to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of covid-19 and break the chain of transmission to the population.

“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,” he said.

PSC warned members of the public that the persons of interest constituted an immediate health hazard to the society and must therefore transport themselves safely, to the nearest state public health departments within 48hours of the notice for immediate evaluation and call the Port Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health 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”.

• See Also: Covid-19: FG Bars Travelers From India, Brazil And Turkey From Entering The Country