National Coordinator of Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu has said more than 27,000 passengers from abroad came into Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic despite the strict procedures following the reopening of Lagos and Abuja Airports.
Speaking at a townhall webinar meeting organised by Nigerians in Diaspora Commission for Nigerians coming into the country, Dr Aliyu pointed out that of the 27,000 passengers, 18,000 of them came in through Muritala Muhammed International Airport Lagos while the remaining 9,000 came in through Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.
He also revealed that public laboratories are not allowed to conduct free testing as the Federal Government cannot afford it and it is not sustainable, as, “it is not something that government can afford” so as not to run out of test kits.
While lauding NIDCOM for living up to expectations in coordinating Diaspora concerns on the protocols put in place, he stated that the “advantage of testing before boarding is to stop people with Covid-19 from moving to Nigeria as the
test is expected to be done 120 hours maximum before boarding.”
