• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

COVID -19 in Nigeria: There is nothing to fear, Immigration Service assures

Nigerian Immigration Service

Following the first positive case of the COVID -19 (Coronavirus) in Nigeria, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has assured that its men stationed at all the border areas of Nigeria are very much alert to tackle the menace even as it asked the nation not panic.

BusninessDay had reported that Lagos State confirmed that an Italian national responsible for the first recorded case of the deadly Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria, arrived the Lagos international airport onboard a Turkish Airline on Monday, February 24, before making his way to Ogun State on short business trip.

According to the report, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is the chief incident commander in the efforts to contain the disease, while briefing the press this morning(Friday) alongside the commissioner for health, Akin Abayomi, noted that the patient, who is now in strict isolation, is in stable condition and not developed any respiratory symptoms for now.

BusinessDay also reported that the Italian citizen was said to have fallen ill on the February 26 and was transferred to Lagos State Bio-security Facilities for isolation and testing from a health facility in Ogun.

Speaking to BusinessDay on Friday,   Public Relations Officer of the Immigration Service, Sunday James, said the Service is the first agency of government that set up the containment process.

“We have done sensitization and campaign on the essence of observing standard first aid measures for taking precaution against the virus. This campaign was as a result of the directive given by the Comptroller General of the NIS to all the commands having ports of entry into the country such as the Airport, the Sea port and the land frontiers’’ he said.

James added that the directive is that all the officers who are the first contact should get insulated so as to make sure that the nation contains the spread of the virus.

 “We handle passport and somebody would have traveled not necessarily through international flight. Somebody from the West African coast would have travelled to any of the vulnerable areas but for the fact that they are going to come into their own country and start coming to Nigeria, that is why the CGI gave that directive long time ago,” he said.

He pointed out that the airport command has been so sensitive, saying that officers at the airport now use the hand gloves, the face masks and hand sanitizers to handle the passports of anybody from some of those vulnerable countries.

“They (officers) take extra measures in handling their passports because you can contact the virus not necessarily through human being but thorough materials. So, we are very conscious of this. Our officers are insulated, we are working together with health officials at the airports, and there is nothing to fear,” he assured.

 

By Innocent Odoh, Abuja