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The Federal Government says passengers who fail to comply with the Covid-19 protocol put in place to curb the importation of the virus will be suspended from travelling for six months with the planned resumption of international flights barely days away.
The country’s airspace and airports were shut to flight operations in March to curb the spread of the lethal coronavirus disease which as of Monday has killed over 1,000 people in Nigeria.
The FG subsequently okayed the restart of domestic flights from July 8 adding that effective September 5, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, would be reopened for international flights.
Giving an update during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 in Abuja on Monday, PTF National Coordinator, Sani Aliyu, said there would be sanctions for non-compliance with the guidelines on the part of the airlines and the passengers.
Aliyu said, “There will definitely be sanctions if they do not comply. Sanctions to the airlines if they allow passengers without a Covid-19 PCR result to board, they will be sanctioned on arrival in Nigeria. That is the airline. For passengers that decline to do the test, at Day 7, we will still allow them after Day 14 to have a test done after which their details will be forwarded to Port Health, Immigration, and part of the security services.
“It is very likely we will put in place measures to enforce this by suspending travel up to six months or deny foreign travels altogether.
“But beyond the sanctions, because as responsible citizens, we all want our country to continue to be Covid-19-free once we get on top of the pandemic, so, we expect the vast number of travellers to continue to comply with these simple, straightforward measures we are putting in place for the benefit of our country and for the health of our citizens.”
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