The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has given reasons for the delay in implementing flight restrictions.
Mohammed said the delay was to enable airlines put safety measures in place.
The Federal Government of Nigeria yesterday announced a travel ban from some countries due to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who made the announcement said the ban on high risk countries was aimed at curbing the spread of the disease in Nigeria.
Countries banned include: China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, United States of America, Norway, United Kingdom, Netherlands & Switzerland.
However, the minister of information while addressing newsmen at the end of yesterday’s Federal Executive Council meeting said 24 hours notice to all airlines was necessary to ensure they know when to position their flights, for safety and security reasons.
According to the Minister: “There is what is called NOTAM – Notice To All Airmen. If you want to issue a kind of restrictions like this you give notice more than 24 hours to all airmen so that they will know when to position their flights and for safety and security reasons.
“For instance, if an aircraft has taken off now you cannot ask it to go back mid air.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s COVID-19 data now stands at 8 following the confirmation of 5 new cases by the federal ministry of health.
____
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2020 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
