The Vice-Chairman of Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Senator Francis Fadahunsi, has said that lawmakers, who returned from overseas, should be immediately traced and quarantined, in order to eradicate coronavirus spread.

Fadahunsi, who spoke to reporters in Abuja said,

It was not enough for the authorities to assume that the affected lawmakers would use the suspension of plenary by the National Assembly for two weeks break to isolate themselves.

Spokesman for the Senate, Godiya Akwashiki, told journalists on Tuesday, March 24th, 2020, that the two-week break was meant for all senators to self-isolate themselves.

Senator Mathew Urhoghide, who is mong the legislators who returned from overseas recently, said,

We have being on self-isolation since we came back. We have followed necessary procedure to avoid contact.

But Fadahunsi argued that allowing them to continue to freely mix with members of the public would further exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus disease.

He challenged health officials at the airports to use of the information supplied by those who recently returned from travels overseas to trace them.

He also suggested a total lockdown of the country for three days, in order to achieve that objective.

He said,

Coronavirus is here already. Unfortunately, it is rising slowly and we are afraid because many of those who have travelled abroad have returned.

They have already mingled with members of the public before we closed our borders.

Most Nigerians including legislators, who have travelled abroad and have returned, are already in our midst.

We are not above the law, they passed through the airport and the documentation was done.

Officials could trace them. There is no lawmaker that is so tiny that you cannot trace. They should trace them.

He added,

We have already advised them (lawmakers) to go for tests. The Federal Government has the power to call them because they passed through immigration.

If they mixed with the public this thing will continue to spread. They should look for them by tracing them through their record so that they can quarantine them.

I’m advocating a total lockdown for about two or three days so that we would be able to sanitise the whole system.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.