The Federal Government has banned non-Nigerian passengers who visited Brazil, India, and Turkey in the last two weeks from entering the country.
Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha made this known in a statement issued on Saturday.
Mustapha said the decision followed increasing cases of COVID-19 and fatalities in Brazil, India, Turkey and some other parts of the world.
Mustapha said this did not include passengers transiting through those countries, stressing that the travel advisory would take effect on Tuesday while it would be subjected to review after an initial period of four weeks.
“These precautionary measures are a necessary step to minimize the risk of a surge in COVID-19 cases introduced to Nigeria from other countries.
“Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited Brazil, India or Turkey within days preceding travel to Nigeria, shall be denied entry into Nigeria,” the statement partly read.
He noted that defaulting airlines would be made to pay a mandatory penalty of $3,500 for each (defaulting) you passenger.
The SGF also said that Nigerians and permanent residents who had been in those countries in the last 14 days would be placed on mandatory quarantine for a week in a government-approved facility on arrival.
“If positive, the passenger shall be admitted within a government-approved treatment centre, in line with national treatment conventions.
“If negative, the passenger shall continue to remain in quarantine and made to undergo a repeat PCR test on day 7 of their quarantine,” Mustapha added.
In India, more than 200,000 people have died from COVID-19 after a third wave, a condition said to have risen from lack of oxygen in the country. Brazil has recorded over 400,000 deaths while Turkey has over 40,000 deaths from the disease.
