FG Considers Flight Restrictions, Passenger Isolation Over Ebola Threat

The Federal Government is considering possible restrictions on flights from countries affected by the Ebola virus, as part of fresh measures to prevent any outbreak in Nigeria.

This was disclosed on Thursday by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, following a high-level strategic meeting held in Victoria Island, Lagos State, to review the country’s Ebola preparedness and response framework.

Gbajabiamila, who led the meeting, said the proposed travel restrictions would be complemented by the isolation of passengers showing symptoms consistent with Ebola infection at the nation’s points of entry.

The meeting brought together key 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, Akin Abayomi, among others.

Gbajabiamila further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had been briefed on the current Ebola situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, assuring that the Federal Government would take all necessary steps to ensure Nigeria does not record any case.

According to him, the administration remains fully committed to strengthening surveillance, response systems, and inter-agency coordination 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.

“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,” he said.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said all points of entry into the country would be placed under strict monitoring to prevent any possible outbreak.

He added that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) would work closely with the NCDC to enhance early detection and rapid response measures.

On his part, NCDC Director General, Dr. Jide Idris, warned that Ebola remains a severe viral disease with no known cure or vaccine, stressing the importance of sustained vigilance, particularly among health workers.

He added that preparedness plans have been activated across all 36 states, with public awareness campaigns to be intensified to educate citizens on prevention and response protocols.

Dr. Idris also affirmed that all necessary precautionary measures had been put in place to strengthen Nigeria’s national 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.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DR Congo since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases.

Its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, fears insecurity in the eastern DR Congo, which has been plagued for three decades by conflict, is making it extremely difficult to contain the outbreak.