Federal Government is considering imposing restrictions on flights from countries affected by the Ebola virus as part of renewed efforts to prevent a possible outbreak in Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that the development was disclosed on Thursday by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, after a high-level strategic meeting held in Victoria Island, Lagos, to assess Nigeria’s Ebola preparedness and response framework.
Gbajabiamila said the proposed travel restrictions could be accompanied by measures to isolate passengers showing symptoms associated with the deadly virus at the country’s entry points.
The meeting was attended by top government officials, including the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr. Jide Idris; Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; and Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, among others.
He revealed that President Bola Tinubu had already been briefed on the worsening Ebola situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, assuring Nigerians that the Federal Government would take proactive steps to stop the virus from entering the country.
According to Gbajabiamila, the administration remains committed to strengthening surveillance systems, emergency response mechanisms, and inter-agency collaboration to safeguard public health.
“We have a health scare, which is Ebola, and we all know what happened the last time. The cases are getting worse, internationally and worldwide, and we don’t want to leave anything to chance,” he said.
“There were three, four areas we looked at. We looked at the issue of possibility, as of now, of restricting flights from countries of interest. We looked at the possibilities of isolating passengers who may exhibit symptoms of Ebola.
“We looked at the possibility of isolating or using the cargo terminal to deal with passengers that are coming in from those areas, and of course, putting certain things in place, protocols in place; we believe that prevention is better than cure, and where some passengers slip through the cracks, then we must have ways of dealing with situations such as that.”
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, also said all entry points into Nigeria would be placed under tighter surveillance to prevent any outbreak.
He noted that the Nigeria Immigration Service would collaborate closely with the NCDC to strengthen early detection and rapid response measures.
Speaking at the meeting, NCDC Director-General, Dr. Jide Idris, warned that Ebola remains a highly dangerous viral disease with no known cure or vaccine, stressing the need for sustained vigilance, especially among healthcare workers.
He disclosed that preparedness plans had already been activated across the 36 states and that public awareness campaigns would be intensified to educate citizens on preventive measures and response protocols.
Dr. Idris further assured Nigerians that all necessary precautionary steps had been put in place to strengthen the country’s preparedness and response systems against any potential outbreak.
“We have our preparedness plan; it’s covering all state governments, all ports of entry.
“This particular virus has no treatment, no vaccines. So it’s the public health measures that need to be done — isolation, quick detection, public enlightenment, infection prevention, and control.
“These are areas now we are concentrating on from NCDC. We are sent out advisories. We’re going to increase our communication skills again, and we’re talking to healthcare workers because they are vulnerable,” he said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola-related deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the outbreak was declared in mid-May.
According to the WHO, the outbreak has resulted in more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases, while insecurity and prolonged conflict in eastern DR Congo continue to hamper containment efforts.
