Friday, 28 May 2021: The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 Thursday evening released the second batch of travellers who violated the imposed travel advisory.

The chairman of the committee, Boss Mustapha, in a statement, said the violators have been declared Persons of Interest after evading the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.

He also listed their punishments to 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.

Names of 132 violators were listed in the statement.

This is in addition to the 90 violators that made the first list released on Sunday.

The statement read, “The Presidential Committee on May 1, 2021 issued a travel advisory for passengers arriving Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey.

“These precautionary measures are necessary steps to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of concern 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 Presidential Steering Committee 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 COVID-19 Health Regulations Protection 2021.

“Accordingly, the underlisted persons who arrived in Nigeria through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and whose names and passport numbers are displayed, have been declared Persons of Interest on account of posing considerable danger to overall public health and for the violation of Nigeria COVID-19 travel protocol by evading the mandatory seven-day quarantine for persons arriving from restricted countries.

“Members of the public are by this notice advised that these persons of interest constitute an immediate health hazard to the society.

“They must therefore transport themselves safely, to the nearest state public health departments within 48hrs of this notice for immediate evaluation and call the Port Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health on 08036134672 or 08032461990 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.”