Ebola: Nigerian Senate calls for travel screening and emergency funds
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Dailytrust
The Nigerian Senate has adopted emergency measures to counter the risk of Ebola spreading, including compulsory screening for international travellers, immediate funding and revision of the 1926 Quarantine Act. Senator Francis Faduyile said the first confirmed case in the Federal Capital Territory had led to about 44 people being identified for observation, according to Daily Trust.
The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday called for compulsory screening of all international travellers, the immediate release of emergency funds and the repeal of the Quarantine Act of 1926, following confirmation of the country's first case of Bundibugyo Ebola, Daily Trust reports. Senator Francis Faduyile, a doctor and pathology specialist, introduced the motion on behalf of the upper chamber.
Contact tracing around the index case in Abuja has already identified about 44 people placed in quarantine or under observation. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk of importation high, while several airports, seaports and land borders lack port health officers, thermal scanners and isolation facilities, according to Senator Faduyile.
The debate follows the strengthening of surveillance in Nigeria's Niger State, announced on 21 October after the case was detected in Abuja.
Update of 21 October 2026: The Nigerian Senate disputes petrol import figures for 2022 and 2023, with discrepancies of several billion litres between the regulator's data and those of state oil company NNPCL. Read: Nigerian Senate rejects 2022-2023 petrol import figures.
