The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has expressed shock over the declaration that Nigeria has recorded its first Coronavirus case in the populous city of Lagos.
The opposition coalition has therefore charged President Muhammadu Buhari, as a matter of urgent public safety, not to mismanage the country’s response to the virus the way he has mismanaged the nation’s security.
This was contained in the text of a press conference signed by the spokesman of the CUPP, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and made available to Crimefacts.news .
The coalition says it is
alarmed like other patriotic Nigerians or groups by the report of the confirmation
of the first case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria despite the Federal
Government’s widely publicized claims of having put necessary strategies in place to
ensure that the dreaded disease does not find its way into the country.
The group notes further that the undetected passage of the
virus carrier, an Italian citizen, who entered Nigeria on the 25th of February
from Milan, Italy, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos,
is a big threat to our nation’s survival, and the development must be handled
with the seriousness it deserves.
The CUPP is still at a loss how the virus got into Nigeria
despite the fact that the Federal Government had enough time to prepare and of
course ensure proper screening of passengers at the airports.
The statement read in part: “We believe very strongly
that the government, the Ministry of Health, the Nigeria Centre for Disease
Control and other relevant agencies being funded with tax payers’ money have
questions to answer on this very unfortunate development.
“As responsible Nigerians, we in the CUPP are again
advising the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to stop all flights
originating from countries with confirmed high cases of the virus, designate an
airport for landing of flights from highly infected nations or set up special
14 days quarantine centre for passengers from infected nations.
“We urge this administration not to mishandle this case
of Conovarius threat the same way it has been handling the issue of insecurity
across the country.
“This call becomes necessary to avoid mass murder of
millions of innocent Nigerians who have already suffered enough under this
administration because of its remarkable ineptitude.”
CUPP recommended 14 days of quarantine for travellers
entering the country from nations with high incidents of Coronavirus before
allowing them to join the general population.
It urged Nigerians and public places managers to activate and
adopt strong preemptive health safety protocols to avoid the spread of the
virus.
“In doing this however, we urge Nigerians and other
residents not to panic but adopt high rate of hygiene and protect themselves
from this dreaded virus”, the statement read.
