The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that all returning foreign passengers who fled the quarantine facilities and violated the compulsory requirement will not go unpunished.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, made this remark at the resumed briefing of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He disclosed that the committee has received reports that some travellers who recently returned to the country violated the mandatory quarantine requirement under the advisory by absconding from the facilities.
Mustapha, the PSC Chairman, condemned the violation of the nation’s laws and hospitality, noting that the committee is awaiting the report of ongoing investigations and would impose appropriate sanctions on the violators.
He revealed that the PSC has considered several pre-emptive measures to be taken to mitigate the likely impact of the variants of COVID-19, should they get imported into Nigeria.
The SGF explained that this became important in view of the fragile state of the nation’s health systems, the disruption to the delivery of vaccines, and the lack of compliance with the extant public health measures and social measures contained in the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulations 2021.
He says it is imperative to reinstitute the various public health measures put in place under the health protection regulations.