FG faults ban as UAE lifts travel suspension on Nigeria, others
United Arab Emirates has lifted its travel ban on Nigeria and 11 other African countries.
The UAE official said all inbound flights from Nigeria and 11 other African countries will resume after the indefinite ban that was triggered by the Omicron variant of Covid_19.
The 12 countries affected by the ban were Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, republic of Congo, South Africa, Botswana Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
According to the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority, starting 2.30pm on Saturday, January 29, entry measures for travelers coming in from three other African countries: Uganda, Ghana and Rwanda have been updated.
It, however said inbound passengers would be required to present negative Covid-19 test results, obtained from approved laboratories not longer than 48 hours prior to their departure on arrival in UAE.
Also, the passengers would be required to undergo a rapid CPR test at the airports of departure as well as another CPR test upon arrival.
Emirates Airlines, one of the UAE carriers had also suspended flights to many African countries due to the earlier directive.
Emirates had also suspended flights to Nigeria.
Reacting to the development however, the Technical Head, Presidential Steering Committee, Mukhtar Muhammed, said there was no reason for the ban in the first place.
He said the decision was political and discriminating, adding that European countries with high index cases of the coronavirus were not affected by the move.
He said, “The decision to suspend flights from Nigeria and other African countries had no scientific basis, it was just a discriminatory move. What they did was not fair because we did not see any of the countries that have a high prevalence rate in Europe were affected by that decision.
“As far as we are concerned, it was just a political move. Now that the ban has been lifted, we will look at their conditions and also make sure they comply with out own. We have our protocol in place and we expect anybody coming into the country to comply with them.
