Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, candidate in the forthcoming primaries of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of next year's presidential elections, speaks during a media briefing in Lagos on September 3, 2018. - Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is campaigning for the presidential mandate of the opposition People's Democratic Party to unseat the Incumbent President at next year's presidential elections. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP) (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)
Former vice-president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Nigerian government to ban flights to and from the United Kingdom (UK), as the second wave of COVID-19 continues to become a serious issue.
Atiku made the call in a series of tweets from his official handle on Sunday.
According to him, the country took a harder-than-necessary hit during the first wave, because the FG failed to heed warnings of well-meaning Nigerians.
He further warned that Nigeria’s health sector is not sufficiently prepared to handle a sudden and unpredictable surge of the pandemic.
Atiku wrote,
“The new strain of COVID19 that has erupted in the United Kingdom, and specifically, London, can add to Nigeria’s health emergency if we do not act with an abundance of caution and temporarily halt all flights to and from the UK until this new strain is brought under control,”
The coronavirus strand in the UK has been found to have a very significantly higher rate of transmission.
Cities like London have already gone into complete lockdown.