NIGERIA’S information minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed has revealed the military and police would get involved in tracking down some Nigerians who have made contact with people infected with the coronavirus.
Although Nigeria has been spared the worst effects of the dreaded pandemic so far, there have been about 30 cases nationwide. All of them involved people returning to the country from abroad but there is the added complication of those who the affected persons came in contact with.
For instance, the authorities are trying to track down all those who shared flights with the affected persons when they flew into Nigeria. Pointing out that all such persons need to be tracked down, Alhaji Mohammed said that more than 1,300 contacts who have dissolved into the society are yet to be traced.
Alhaji Mohammed said: “We should be ready for tougher measures. The forms they will take will be out from the end of today or tomorrow but Nigerians should be ready for tougher measures.
“If we don’t do proper contact tracing, the figure will multiply every five days, so Nigerians must take ownership of this initiative. We won’t hesitate to use whatever measure to ensure that you do not endanger other Nigerians as containment is much cheaper than cure.
“A few people have helped but if you know you travelled recently, give yourself up to the relevant agencies. If the situation warrants, we may be forced to use the police and the military for contact tracing.
“The police is already working on that. We don’t want the figure we have now to multiply, so we should work towards containment which is cheaper.”
