Ebola threat: Lagos moves to limit passenger interaction

Authorities in Lagos are exploring measures to reduce interaction between passengers arriving from Ebola-affected countries and other travellers passing through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, as authorities strengthen safeguards against the possible importation of the virus into Nigeria.

The proposal formed part of deliberations during a high-level inspection and preparedness exercise at the airport on Sunday, where state health officials, aviation regulators and airport authorities reviewed surveillance systems, emergency response plans and passenger screening protocols amid renewed Ebola outbreaks in parts of Central and East Africa.

The Lagos delegation was led by the Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, and included the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Dayo Lajide; Director of Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health, Dr Ismail Abdus-Salam; and senior officials of the Lagos State Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.

They were received by the Airport Manager and Regional General Manager, South-West MMIA, Olatokunbo Arewa, alongside representatives of Port Health Services, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and other airport agencies.

The discussions come as health authorities across the continent heighten surveillance following the spread of Ebola in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, prompting Lagos to reassess its frontline defences at Nigeria’s busiest international gateway.

The visit underscored growing concern among public health authorities that increased international mobility could heighten the risk of cross-border disease transmission if surveillance systems are not continually strengthened.

Addressing airport officials, Abayomi said Lagos was determined to preserve the efficiency of airport operations while introducing safeguards to rapidly identify and isolate potential Ebola cases.

“Our objective is to create a bottleneck for the virus, not for passengers,” he said.

He said the state was examining practical ways to limit unnecessary contact between travellers arriving from countries of concern and other passengers in the airport environment, while ensuring that airport operations remain efficient and unobstructed.

For a city that served as the entry point for Nigeria’s 2014 Ebola outbreak, Abayomi said complacency was not an option.

He recalled how the virus entered the country through an infected traveller from Liberia and threatened to trigger a major public health emergency before being contained through intensive surveillance, contact tracing and the intervention of frontline health workers.

The commissioner paid tribute to the late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, whose actions, he said, helped prevent wider community transmission.

“The experience taught us that vigilance can never be relaxed in a globally connected world,” he said.

Abayomi described MMIA as the country’s most critical international gateway, accounting for roughly 70 per cent of inbound international passenger traffic, making it the most likely route through which imported infectious diseases could enter Nigeria.

He identified rapid case detection, immediate isolation, safe evacuation procedures and stronger digital monitoring of travellers from affected countries as the pillars of the state’s preparedness strategy.

Ogunyemi said the battle against infectious diseases could only succeed through coordinated action involving federal and state institutions, airport operators and frontline personnel.

“The frontline actually begins here at our ports of entry. As passengers arrive, you are among the very first people to interact with them, making your role critical in our disease surveillance and response efforts,” she said.

She conveyed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s support to airport workers and argued that health security deserved the same level of national attention accorded to conventional security threats.

Lajide stressed the need to protect frontline personnel tasked with screening travellers and implementing disease-control measures.

She commended airport agencies for their collaboration and urged workers to maintain strict adherence to infection prevention protocols.

Responding on behalf of airport authorities, Arewa disclosed that MMIA had begun strengthening its preparedness infrastructure through the deployment of touchless sanitiser systems, temperature-monitoring equipment and enhanced passenger screening arrangements.

He said discussions were ongoing regarding dedicated processing channels for travellers arriving from countries classified as high-risk.

“Ebola is a highly dangerous disease, and any suspected case must be isolated quickly and professionally to prevent transmission,” he said.

Arewa noted that cooperation between airport authorities and the Lagos State Government, which deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic, remained central to future emergency responses.

Further details of preparedness measures were provided by the Head of Port Health Services at MMIA, Lawal Abdullahi, who revealed that the airport reviewed and updated its Public Health Emergency Contingency Plan on March 18, 2026, before the latest Ebola developments on the continent.

He said the Airport Public Health Emergency Management Team had already been activated, while risk assessments had been conducted to identify countries requiring enhanced surveillance.

According to Abdullahi, passenger screening procedures were already in place before the activation of the national health declaration platform, with information routinely shared with Lagos State disease surveillance teams.

He added that discussions were underway to improve access to passenger data in order to strengthen contact tracing and monitoring capabilities when necessary.

The NCAA’s Aeromedical Assessor, Dr Abayomi Asunbo, said airlines operating international routes had been directed to ensure strict compliance with public health protocols before passengers are cleared for entry into Nigeria.

Also speaking, FAAN’s General Manager for Aviation Medical Services, Bilkis Ibrahim, said additional protective equipment, multilingual health advisories, awareness materials and personnel training programmes were being deployed across the airport network.

The Head of Medical Services at MMIA, Dr Uche Ofoegbu, said airport stakeholders had intensified sensitisation programmes to ensure staff understood their responsibilities regarding surveillance, infection control, isolation procedures and emergency response.

The inspection concluded with a tour of screening facilities and other critical airport infrastructure, during which officials reiterated their commitment to coordinated preparedness, information sharing and rapid intervention mechanisms.