Nigerian govt to decide on lifting ban on interstate travels soon 

The Federal Government has said it was reviewing the ban on interstate travels and would soon decide on lifting it.

This was disclosed by the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu at Monday’s press briefing of the PTF, adding that the task force had started reviewing the guidelines for lifting of the ban.

Aliyu further disclosed that the roads would be opened when the bus terminals in the country all had COVID-19 preventive measures in place.

According to him, the guidelines submitted by the Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, was being reviewed and the roads would be opened as soon as it is safe to do so.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government had, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, placed a ban on interstate travels, amongst other measures aimed at controlling the spread of the pandemic.

He said: “At the moment, we still have restrictions on interstate travel. But we have been linking up with the Federal Ministry of Transportation through the Minister of State for Transportation.

Read also: COVID-19: Jigawa gov, Badaru, orders resumption of interstate movement

“They have given us guidelines that they have developed: very detailed guidelines, and we have looked at them, summarised them and discussed at PTF last week.

“We have asked the Minister of State for Transportation to please engage with the road transport workers to make sure that the usual garages and parks that we have are ready in terms of guidelines that we have in place such as physical distancing, reducing the number of passengers per vehicle and provision of hand washing facilities etc.

“And I believe they are already working on this and hopefully, we should be able to open as soon as it is safe to do so.”

The PTF coordinator, who expressed worry over the lack of compliance with safety protocols, called on state governments to increase the rate of their COVID-19 testing and also make laws to make the wearing of masks in public space mandatory.

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