The Nigeria Immigration Service has warned that foreigners who fail to present their COVID-19 test certificates on arrival in the country will have their visas revoked.

Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede gave the warning while speaking at the weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Tuesday January 5.

Babandede assured Nigerians that the 100 travellers under a travel ban for flouting the mandatory seven-day post-arrival COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test cannot obtain fresh passports or compromise the NIS officers as the system was automated and cannot be bypassed or manipulated.

He said;

“The public health is a big issue in the country and so based on that directives, we have complied by blocking 100 passports from travelling, which means, even if they go to the police and declare those passports missing, they cannot be reissued anywhere in the world and they cannot cross our national borders until the period of six months or communication received from the right authorities stating that they have complied.

“This will also include non-Nigerians; we have the powers to revoke visas, even the comptroller-general has the power to revoke visas. “

Babandede who also revealed that he has been receiving calls to help those under travel restriction, stated that every visitor must have the COVID-19 test result.