Nigeria imposes travel ban on Europe and Saudi Arabia in retaliation to Omicron fears

Nigeria imposes travel ban on Europe and Saudi Arabia in retaliation to Omicron fears

  • Nigeria retaliates by banning travel from Europe and Saudi Arabia by imposing similar travel restrictions
  • The country has recorded Omicron cases and found that other European countries have imposed travel bans on them
  • Federal officials of the Federal Republic have condemned all travel restrictions which they describe as racist and unethical.

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The Nigerian unity government will restrict flights from Canada, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, to Nigeria from Tuesday, December 14, 2021.

This was revealed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Sunday in Lagos, according to Reuters.

Nigeria imposes travel ban on Europe and Saudi Arabia in retaliation to Omicron fears
Nigeria imposes travel ban on Europe and Saudi Arabia in retaliation to Omicron fears. Photo: Getty Images

The government has decided to repatriate banned flights from Nigeria to those countries over a new version of COVID-19, Omicron.

Minister's response to travel ban

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Sirika said the countries that have imposed a travel ban on Nigeria due to differences in the Omicron Covid-19 have no right to have their airlines fly to Nigeria while conducting business.

Sirika said, "President Muhammadu Buhari's officials will once again put the United Kingdom, Canada and Saudi Arabia on the red list for the Omicron outbreak.

"There is also the issue of Saudi Arabia which has placed Nigeria on the banned list. On Sunday, I participated in a meeting with the COVID-19 team.
"We have put forward our views as unacceptable and recommend that those in Canada, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Argentina be included in the red list.
“As they did to us, if they did not allow our citizens to enter their lands; who come, like airplanes, to vote in our country? They should not enter. I'm sure in the next three days; On Monday or Tuesday, all those countries will be included in the red COVID-19 list, ”

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He stressed that the flights of the affected countries were always banned and countries were listed on the Nigerian Red List.

Sirika, however, apologized to the Nigerian people who intended to travel to those countries but said the Nigerian government's decision had aroused national interest.

The Canadian and UK governments have imposed travel restrictions on Nigerian citizens, according to Asaase Radio.

The decision was made following an increase in the number of Omicron variants for COVID-19 worldwide. The UK is the third country to impose a travel ban on Nigeria after Canada and Singapore.

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Nii Ayi Ayitey Nii Ayi Ayitey, aka Charles Ayitey, is an experienced journalist who covered Current Affairs news for Yen.com.gh from 2015-2021. He also worked for such companies as Multimedia Group Limited, Scooper, and Face2Face Africa. Nii Ayi Ayitey holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication and Media Studies from the Ghana Institute of Journalism (2015). Currently, he's studying at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.