Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the federal government is considerig banning international travels to curb the spread of Covid-19, especially the new variant manifesting itself in the United Kingdom.
Mohammed, at a Special Forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday said:
“We are more concerned about the new strain of Covid-19 which is manifesting itself in the UK; that is the mutated strain.
“It is difficult to detect. It spreads faster and people have been known to die of it within a very short period of its detection.
“This is a major concern to us as a country.
“While I do not want to pre-empt the PTF because we are meeting this afternoon (Monday), it is going to be top on the agenda of our discussions.
“I will not be surprised if that will be the recommendation of the committee which is meeting later today,’’ he stated.
The minister added: “This season, many students are coming from the UK in particular, to come and join their families in Nigeria.
“Besides, many of our people, because of the traditional link we have with the UK, may want to go there for business or family reunion.
“It is a very testy time and it might be another dangerous period to transmit this new variant of Covid-19.”
The minister noted that many European countries had banned flights to and from the UK.
Besides measures to prevent the importation of the new strain of Covid-19, the minister said the government was worried about the spike in infections in the last days.
He urged Nigerians to comply with the advisory being issued by the PTF, including the use of face masks, compliance with social distancing protocols and regular washing of hands with soap and water.