Ebola: NCAA monitors Aero, Ethiopian, Kenyan airlines
The Acting Director- General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Mr. Benedict Adeyileka, yesterday said that the agency was monitoring the activities of some foreign carriers operating into Nigeria to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus into Nigeria.
He also said Aero Contractors, the only Nigerian airline still operating the West Coast after the
Speaking on the phone with our correspondent yesterday, Adeyileka said that NCAA had held meetings with the managements of Ethiopian Airlines, Gambia Express, Kenya Airways and other carriers flying into the West Coast.
He said the meeting with the airlines became imperative as they had been ordered to properly screen passengers being airlifted from the West Coast.
The Port Health Management at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, MMA, Lagos, however refused to comment on the development when our correspondent enquired about the effect of the outbreak on the travelers.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government yesterday admitted as an error the listing of the Nigerian Ambassador to Liberia, Mrs. Chigozie Obi-Nnadozie, as one of the persons that had contact with the late Liberian, who died of Ebola Virus in Lagos last Friday.
It stated the the ambassador's name was erroneously provided by a Federal Government official working in collaboration with its officials.
The state government in a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, said the briefing where the name of the ambassador was mentioned was attended by high profile Federal Ministry of Health officials.
The government explained that they had since learnt that the official who travelled to Nigeria with the victim that was mistaken for the Nigerian ambassador to Liberia was actually a representative of the ECOWAS president.
'We hereby tender our unreserved apologies to Her Excellency for the inconveniencies this may have caused her both as an individual and a very high official and Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,' the government said.
Absolving its official of any blame, the Lagos State Government added: 'We, however, wish to state here that the error was made by the official of the Federal Government who was at the briefing on Monday and provided the information at the Lagos Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.' - National Mirror.