DIASPORANS might find themselves in a spot of bother if they want to travel back to Nigeria within the immediate future after the federal government announced that it will impose travel restrictions on certain visitors as from Saturday March 21.
Although largely unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria has had three known scares, with all of them coming from abroad. Nigeria’s first case involved an Italian gentleman, the second was an Indian, while the third was a local lady who travelled back from the UK earlier this month.
So far, there have been no fatalities, with everyone affected recovering but with fears growing that Nigeria’s luck may soon run out, the federal government has been forced to act. As from Saturday, entry restrictions will be placed on travellers from the US, UK, China and 10 other countries that all have over 1,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.
Boss Mustapha, the secretary to the federal government, who heads the coronavirus task force, said that the measures were necessary to safeguard the nation. He added that other affected nations include Japan, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Iran and South Korea.
According to Mr Mustapha, travellers from these nations would be subjected to supervised self-isolation and testing for 14 days upon arrival in Nigeria. Already, the Nigerian missions in Washington and London have suspended the issuance of new passports in response to the crisis.
