Chinelo Obogo
Nigeria’s domestic carrier, Air Peace, said it has stopped and isolated a Nigerian passenger who was billed to travel from Lagos to Asaba on its flight after the airline’s health team discovered that he was very sick.
Reliable sources at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport disclosed that the passenger was supposed to travel on Monday but deferred his flight to Friday because he was too sick to travel.
When he got to the airline’s counter on Friday, the health personnel deployed by the airline to check passengers’ temperature and sanitise them before they board the aircraft, discovered that he was very sick and his temperature was very high.
The airline immediately isolated and notified the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Port Health authorities.
The source also disclosed that the passenger, who was immediately denied flight, returned recently from UK and that he had been taken to hospital where he had undertaken treatment without informing concerned authorities, the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Air Peace, Mrs. Toyin Olajide, confirmed the incident and disclosed that the passenger was checked in by proxy; maybe because he did want to be noticed to be sick, but the management of the airline had deployed staff who strictly monitor passengers checked in by agents, especially since the coronavirus became a global pandemic.
“A passenger who we learnt came into the country from UK and was very sick was stopped by our screening team when he was found to be very sick and we referred him to NCAA, FAAN and Port Health.
“Our records showed that he was supposed to travel on Monday but …but because of the stringent measures we put in place, our staff was able to detect him. We made it mandatory that every passenger must be screened and must use sanitizer before boarding our flight. He was not allowed to board our flight; he was immediately isolated.
“We made sure he did not come to Air Peace counter and for the fact that he was checked in by proxy, we suspected he had something to hide. All those who are checked in by agents are closely monitored by our staff. We commend government for what it is already doing to curtail the spread of this coronavirus but Nigerians expect government to intensify efforts to stop the spread. We are collaborating with government to ensure that the disease is stopped from spreading in the country. We also commend our staff for its vigilance without which this case would not have been detected,” Mrs. Olajide said.