President Bola Tinubu has established a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and approved the immediate release of N10bn in emergency intervention funding.
The intervention comes amid renewed concerns over the resurgence of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, prompting the Federal Government to activate measures aimed at preventing the importation of the disease into the country.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the task force would be chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, with membership drawn from relevant ministries, departments and agencies and state representatives.
Onanuga said the N10bn will strengthen the operational preparedness of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and support critical national public health emergency response activities.
The task force was constituted following a stakeholder meeting convened by Gbajabiamila to review Nigeria’s preparedness.
It was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Interior, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and the Lagos State Government, among others.
According to Onanuga, Tinubu directed the “intensification of passenger screening at all international airports, including enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control protocols, and enhanced monitoring of passengers arriving on high-risk airline routes, including Air Uganda, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines, all carriers with direct or connecting services from the affected region.”
He ordered the immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at Lagos and Abuja international airports, with other airports to follow, and the mandatory activation of QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for passengers originating from or transiting through designated high-risk countries.
Other precautionary measures include the disinfection of departure halls, cargo terminals, baggage handling areas and other airport facilities.
He also mandated the group to consult with security, diplomatic and aviation bodies on the possibility of regulating flights from affected and high-risk countries.
The President directed all states hosting international airports and international border corridors, as well as relevant MDAs, to immediately submit their plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for coordinated implementation.
The task force is further directed to designate specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights to enable controlled screening and isolation procedures, and to consider adjusting flight timings to minimize interaction between high-risk passengers and others.
