PRETORIA – Nigeria's Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika has announced that the country may reopen to international flights before October.
"We will announce the agreed date regardless of the ban by Europe, United Arab Emirates, etc. Maybe earlier than October," Sirika posted on Twitter.
Sirika's announcement comes months after Nigeria closed its airspace in March after going on lockdown to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The West African country reopened airports earlier in July for domestic flights.
There have already been numerous complaints concerning violations of Covid-19 rules at Nigeria's airports.
Sirika said they have video footage and a full investigation will be conducted into the alleged violations at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport and Port Harcourt International Airport.
"If anyone is found guilty, the federal government will make a criminal referral to the Nigerian police who must prosecute and the penalty is a jail term of not less than two months.
“No one wants to be in jail even for a minute and the penalty says not less than two months and so it could be 10 years," Sirika said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, the Premium Times reported that about 6,317 Nigerians have been repatriated from around the world since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The publication said the chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, presented the figure during a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
“Currently, Covid-19 is still on the rampage, so the evacuation continues,” she was quoted as saying.
African News Agency (ANA)