The Federal Government is considering imposing restrictions on flights from countries affected by the Ebola virus as part of renewed efforts to prevent an outbreak in Nigeria.
The development was disclosed on Thursday by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, after a high-level strategic meeting in Victoria Island, Lagos, focused on reviewing Nigeria’s Ebola preparedness and response framework.
Gbajabiamila said the proposed measures could include restricting flights from countries with reported Ebola cases and isolating passengers displaying symptoms linked to the disease at Nigeria’s entry points.
The meeting was attended by key government officials, including the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jide Idris; Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; and Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi.
Gbajabiamila said President Bola Tinubu had been briefed on the Ebola situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, assuring Nigerians that the government would take all necessary steps to prevent any case from entering the country.
According to him, the administration remains committed to strengthening surveillance systems, emergency response mechanisms, 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,” he said.
“There were three or four areas we looked at. We looked at the possibility, as of now, of restricting flights from countries of interest. We looked at the possibility of isolating passengers who may exhibit symptoms of Ebola.
“We also looked at using the cargo terminal to deal with passengers coming in from those areas and putting certain protocols in place. We believe prevention is better than cure, and where some passengers slip through the cracks, we must have ways of dealing with situations such as that.”
Tunji-Ojo said all entry points into the country would be placed under strict monitoring to prevent any possible outbreak.
He added that the Nigeria Immigration Service would collaborate closely with the NCDC to improve early detection and rapid response efforts.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Idris warned that Ebola remains a severe viral disease with no known cure or vaccine, stressing the need for constant vigilance, especially among healthcare workers.
He said preparedness plans had already been activated across the 36 states, while public awareness campaigns would be intensified to educate citizens on prevention and response measures.
“We have our preparedness plan covering all state governments and all ports of entry,” Idris said.
“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 we are concentrating on at NCDC. We have sent out advisories, we are increasing communication efforts again, and we are engaging healthcare workers because they are vulnerable.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola-related deaths in the DR Congo since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, with more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases reported.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that insecurity in eastern DR Congo, which has faced decades of armed conflict, is making efforts to contain the outbreak increasingly difficult.
