Posted on: Wed 30-03-2022

A Coalition of Civil Rights Campaigners, yesterday, charged the Federal Government to investigate and prosecute health and immigration officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for allegedly extorting passengers at the airports in the guise of COVID-19 tests and procedures.

They stated that the passengers, who were arriving the airports, were detained and harassed for their refusal to pay for the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) COVID-19 test by the officials.

Members of the Coalition made up of “Our Water Our Right Africa Campaign Group and Claim Your Water Rights Campaign South East, who returned from Senegal last Saturday after participating in the Alternative World Water Forum (WWF) in Dakar on the United Nations recognised World Water Day (WWD) were detained for several hours at the airports over the post COVID-19 test.”

Describing the incident as a rip-off, they maintained that participants from the other African countries did not face the same challenge they went through in Nigeria.

In a statement issued in Enugu by their spokespersons, Aderonke Ige of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) and Amaka Nweke of Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC), said: “The extortion is barbaric at such critical period when so many Nigerians are facing hard times. Nigerians are not commodities for sale and should therefore, be protected against inhuman actions.”

The NAN learnt that that trouble started when the Port Health officials at the airports insisted that fully vaccinated passengers should apply and pay for the PCR test, which some of them rejected.

The team insisted they did the same test in Senegal less than 24 hours ago, which proved to be negative and wondered why they should be subjected to another test in Nigeria. They were asked to pay between N35,000 and N45,200, which would enable them to fill the forms for the test and carry out the test at approved health centre.

Their insistence on not paying for the test caused delay in clearing other passengers at the airports by the health officials and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

The coalition decried the inhuman treatment meted to their members stressing: “The same COVID-19 test result they conducted before leaving Nigeria was presented and cleared by the Senegalese officials. We wonder why there should be conflicting policies.”

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