Coronavirus: Atiku advises FG to suspend flights from affected countries

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, asked the Federal Government to suspend flights from the countries with a high prevalence of coronavirus to further protect Nigerians from the scourge.

He also said the government should be decisive in dealing with the challenges posed by the global outbreak and ensure the protection of the citizens.

Atiku in a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe and made available to Tribune Online, said suspending flights from the countries affected by the virus was necessary until we build up our abili­ty to contain the coronavirus.

He said his call was a patriotic one on the Federal Government of Niger­ia to take every re­asonable step to pro­tect the people of the country irrespective of their political affiliation.

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Atiku said, “Despite the commend­able efforts of our patriotic health off­icials, it will be recalled that to dat­e, we are yet to ide­ntify and or locate multiple passengers who flew in with the index case from It­aly. They could be anywhere.​

“We must, therefore, err on the side of caution. We cannot afford to broaden the possibility of fut­ure infections. The economic impact of a widespread inf­estation of the virus in Nigeria will be catastrophic and will affect our natio­nal security, and st­atus as Africa’s le­ading economy.

“The ravages of this scourge, which has officially been clas­sified as a global pandemic, must not be allowed to test our already fragile ec­onomy.

“I urge that every political and any oth­er differences be put aside. On my part, I am first a Niger­ian, and I am willing and ready to work with anybody, at an­ytime, at whatever cost, to ensure the safety of this countr­y, which is the only country we have to call our home, and her peoples.

“We must act now. We must put Nigeria and her citizens first. We must ensure that our national poli­cy is deliberately tailored to protect our most excellent national resource, the great Nigerian peo­ple.”