Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Sunday urged the federal government to immediately restrict flights, temporarily, from the United Kingdom. Atiku’s call comes on the heels of news of a new strain of COVID-19 circulating in the UK.

The new strain is reported to be more infectious than the original COVID-19 virus. Several countries, including France and other EU states, have already suspended flights from the UK.
“The reason Nigeria took a harder than necessary hit during the first wave of the #COVID19 virus is that the Federal Government failed to heed the warnings of well-meaning Nigerians, like myself and others, to shut down our borders once the virus became a pandemic,” Atiku said in a statement on Sunday. “Hindsight is 20/20. Nevertheless, we must learn from history, or we stand the risk of repeating it.
“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.