The aviation minister directs airlines to enforce the restriction as FAAN strengthens airport screening following a confirmed Ebola case in the FCT.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has directed aviation authorities to place 46 people identified as contacts of an Ebola-affected patient on a no-fly list for at least 21 days as Nigeria intensifies efforts to contain the virus.

Keyamo disclosed this in a statement on his verified X account following a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.

According to the minister, the health ministry provided a list of 44 people who came into contact with an affected female patient at a hospital after she developed Ebola symptoms, alongside two members of her domestic staff.

“This evening, I held a virtual meeting with the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate over the Ebola scourge,” Keyamo said.

He explained that the restriction was intended to prevent the identified contacts from travelling by air while health authorities worked to establish whether they had contracted the virus.

“Whilst efforts are ongoing to isolate them for now until there is certainty they had not been infected with the virus, the Aviation authorities are required to put them on a no-fly list for at least 21 days,” he stated.

Keyamo said he had directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediately notify domestic and international airlines about the restriction.

He also instructed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to strengthen Ebola surveillance and response measures at all international airports across the country.

According to the minister, measures being implemented include enhanced health screening, temperature checks, travel history monitoring, digital health declarations and closer coordination with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

The statement did not identify the affected patient, disclose the hospital where the contacts occurred or establish whether the infection was contracted within Nigeria. It also did not indicate that any of the 46 contacts had tested positive for Ebola.

FAAN Strengthens Airport Surveillance

The development follows an announcement by FAAN on Wednesday that it was maintaining heightened vigilance across airport operations in collaboration with the NCDC, Port Health Services, NCAA and other relevant agencies.

In a statement issued by its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, the agency said early identification of the case and the commencement of contact tracing highlighted the importance of established public health protocols and inter-agency cooperation.

FAAN urged passengers, airlines, airport users and other stakeholders to remain calm, cooperate with health officials and rely on verified information rather than spreading unconfirmed reports.

FG Assures Nigerians of Preparedness

The Federal Government confirmed an Ebola case in the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday, prompting an emergency meeting of the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Preparedness, Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats.

The task force chairman and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the committee had been working behind the scenes since its inauguration in June, helping authorities identify the case and activate response measures.

Gbajabiamila said the infected passenger initially showed no symptoms, which developed four days after the woman arrived in Abuja.

He credited the early identification to surveillance and protocols put in place by the Ministry of Health, the task force and other government agencies.

He added that approximately 44,000 flights had operated into and out of Nigeria since Ebola-related concerns emerged in June, stressing that government agencies had been working to strengthen the country’s preparedness.

The Chief of Staff assured Nigerians that the task force would reinforce existing protocols and ensure stricter enforcement of public health measures.

Health Minister Urges Public Cooperation

Pate said Nigeria’s health authorities, private hospitals, immigration and aviation agencies, the Ministry of Interior and state-level institutions had activated surveillance and response systems.

He said contact tracing and the isolation of contacts linked to the imported case were ongoing, with the Federal Government working alongside the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the NCDC.

“We have been conducting contact tracing diligently and isolating those contacts of the index imported case in this country. We will continue to do that, and we want to reassure Nigerians that the federal government, alongside its technical partners, the World Health Organisation, the Africa Centre for Disease Control, and our own Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, have activated the incident management system across the various pillars,” Pate said.

He urged Nigerians to comply with public health directives and avoid spreading misinformation that could trigger unnecessary panic.

The minister expressed confidence in Nigeria’s public health expertise, citing the country’s experience in containing Ebola in 2014, while stressing that sustained surveillance and public cooperation would be essential to the current response.

Other officials involved in the emergency meeting included Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap; FAAN Managing Director, Bunmi Kuku; FAAN General Manager, Adamu Adamu; WHO representative Pavel Ursu; and Africa CDC Special Regional Representative Aliko Ahmed.