Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria

(HURIWA), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to be a good leader by putting measures in place, including immediate travel embargo of all flights to and from the United Kingdom, to stave off the arrival of the new variant of Coronavirus which is said to be much more virulent than the known virus at the beginning of the pandemic in March.

HURIWA said it is well aware from monitoring of global news reports that over 30 countries across Europe and beyond began closing their borders to travelers from the UK on Sunday, and the European Union set up a crisis management meeting, a day after British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, ordered a wholesale lockdown on London and surrounding areas, citing concerns of a new fast-spreading variant of COVID-19.

“We are also aware that similarly, the first wave of countries to bar travelers from the UK were in Europe. The Netherlands said it would suspend flights from Britain from Sunday until January 1, 2021 noting that the variant found in England was “thought to spread more easily and more quickly.

“Italy also suspended air travel, and Belgium officials on Sunday enacted a 24-hour ban on arrivals from the United Kingdom by air or train, which could be extended.

“Germany and Switzerland announced bans on travel between their countries and both Britain and South Africa, where a similarly contagious version of the virus has emerged. Austria, Ireland, France and Bulgaria also announced bans. Portugal, which banned travel to and from United Kingdom, is making exceptions for Portuguese nationals or residents. And Canada said on Sunday that it would ban all flights from the UK for 72 hours, beginning at midnight.

“So, what is President Buhari waiting for or is he waiting for any of his family members in the UK to return before his administration wakes up from devastating slumber.”

HURIWA also called on the government to immediately put on hold the registration by millions of subscribers of the telecoms industry of their National Identity Card numbers “as the directive given by the Communications and Digital Economy Minister, Ibrahim Patami, to nullify phone connections not synchronised with the NIN number is unfortunate, despicable and it’s an illiterate and wholly unscientific unscrupulous directive which will inevitably push up the infection rates of Covid-19 pandemic and could lead to more avoidable deaths due to the stampede by millions of Nigerians waiting for hours on queues to obtain the National Identity Card numbers so as not to lose their connections to their lines as instructed by the Minister.”

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