Nigeria not planning to ban flight from Liberia over Ebola threat

The Nigerian government on Friday said it has no plan to ban Liberian airlines from coming into the country, following a fresh outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in the West African nation.

A fresh case of Ebola was detected in Liberia, nearly two months after the West African country was declared free of the virus by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Liberian authorities are monitoring at least 100 people thought to have been in contact with a 17-year-old boy, Abraham Memaigar, who died on June 28 in Margibi County, Liberia.

Spokesperson for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Fan Ndubuoke said in Lagos, the country's commercial hub, that both inbound and outbound passengers were being screened for the virus by Port Health Officials.

He told reporters that the Ebola Prevention and Control was a collaborative effort by relevant agencies, saying adequate facilities were in place at the Port Health Office, where inbound and outbound passengers were adequately screened.

According to him, rather than banning the airlines, the various agencies have intensified necessary preventive measures at all the international airports in the country.

He assured the public and intending passengers that all government agencies were on their guard not to allow any passenger who refused to be screened into the country.

He added that the authority would not hesitate to sanction any airline that violated the mandatory screening at its various check points.