Nigeria to ban airlines from 3 countries

By Adam Abu-bashal

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria announced Sunday that the country will ban the entry of passenger planes from the UK, Canada and Saudi Arabia.

Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said in a statement that airlines from the three countries, which have imposed travel restrictions on Nigeria due to the omicron variant of COVID-19, will be restricted from entering the country from Dec. 14.

He said these countries lack a moral right to have their airlines fly to Nigeria for the purpose of commercial operations.

Sirika said President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would also place the three countries on a red list over the outbreak and spread of the omicron variant.

“After imposing travel restrictions on us, why are [these countries’] airlines operating in our country?" he added.

So far, 217,063 virus-related cases have been reported in the country, where the omicron variant has been detected in six people since the beginning of the pandemic, and 2,981 people have died.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed some 5.3 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 270.12 million cases reported worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Merve Berker