By Ime Akpan
Port Health officials have begun to sensitise workers from different agencies operating at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International, Abuja, on the dangers posed by the Ebola virus and how to prevent the spread of the disease in the work place, home and the community.
The spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu Dati, said in statement issued in Lagos yesterday that the programme was coordinated by the director, port services of the ministry of health, Dr. Sani Gwarzo, who charged aviation stakeholders to be abreast of the dangers of the deadly virus and do their utmost to prevent its spread.
At the Lagos Airport, Dati said Port Health personnel had been deployed to the two arrival halls for the purpose of testing arriving passengers for signs and symptoms of the virus.
He said: “Arriving passengers are to be processed first by Port Health personnel who are expected to carry out necessary tests on every passenger with special devices that do not permit physical contact.
Those found to be free of any signs or symptoms would proceed to the immigration area for other formalities.
“A holding area has been provided at the tarmac for suspected cases while index cases are expected to be isolated in a designated area outside the airport for further examination and treatment. FAAN wishes
to assure all travellers and airport users that their safety and security remain our priority and measures have been put in place to ensure them.”
Apart from aviation agency employees, the other organisations that attended the exercise were officials from airlines, ground handling companies Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Nigeria Police Force (NPF), among others.