US-based Man Entered Nigeria after Airports Shutdown, Journalist Alleges

Femi Ashekun/

Nigerian award-winning investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, has alleged that a Nigerian man based in the United States successfully sneaked into the country on Monday despite the shutting down of all the nation’s airports.

Fisayo claimed in a tweet this evening that the unnamed man flew from the US to Ethiopia and then to Togo, from where he travelled by road to Nigeria.

He said the man subsequently travelled to Abuja on Tuesday and visited a branch of Union Bank at Area 3, Garki.

He therefore observed that shutting down the nation’s airports in addition to other measures will prove ineffective in curbing the spread of coronavirus if the land borders remain porous enough for the man to have slipped through.

He also urged Union Bank to assist authorities in tracking the man in order to ensure that he undertakes self-quarantine.

He tweeted, “I understand a traveller evaded Nigeria’s int’l airport shutdown by flying from the US to Ethiopia then to Togo, from where he crossed into Lagos via road on Monday.

“On Tuesday, he travelled to Abuja, where one of his stops was the Union Bank at Area 3, Garki.

“This is clear proof that the whole airport shutdown will amount to nought if our land borders remain porous, as @ibrahim_adey proved recently: https://t.co/Dd8hbg1oCT.

“I urge @UNIONBANK_NG (& @ncdc) to track this visitor and get him to self-quarantine. Your staff have the info.”

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