Lagos State health authorities are considering new measures to minimise contact between passengers arriving from Ebola-affected countries and other travellers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) as part of efforts to prevent the virus from entering Nigeria.
The proposal emerged during a preparedness assessment and inspection conducted at the airport on Sunday.
The exercise brought together health officials, aviation regulators and airport management to evaluate existing surveillance systems, passenger screening procedures and emergency response plans in light of ongoing Ebola outbreaks in parts of Central and East Africa.
Leading the Lagos delegation was the Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi. Other members included the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr Dayo Lajide; Director of Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health, Dr Ismail Abdus-Salam; and senior officials from the Lagos State Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.
The team was received by MMIA Airport Manager and Regional General Manager, South-West, Olatokunbo Arewa, alongside representatives from Port Health Services, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other airport agencies.
The visit comes amid heightened disease surveillance efforts across Africa following the spread of Ebola in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Concerned about the possibility of imported infections, Lagos authorities are reviewing and strengthening preventive measures at the country’s busiest international airport.
Officials noted that increasing global travel continues to raise the risk of cross-border transmission of infectious diseases, making sustained vigilance essential.
Speaking during the inspection, Abayomi stressed that the state’s objective was to balance efficient airport operations with robust disease prevention measures.
“Our objective is to create a bottleneck for the virus, not for passengers,” he said.
He explained that the government was exploring practical strategies to reduce unnecessary interactions between travellers arriving from high-risk countries and other airport users without disrupting normal airport activities.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s experience during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, Abayomi warned against complacency.
He recalled that the virus entered the country through an infected traveller from Liberia and nearly triggered a major health crisis before being contained through surveillance, contact tracing and the efforts of frontline medical personnel.
The commissioner also paid tribute to the late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, acknowledging her role in preventing widespread transmission of the disease.
“The experience taught us that vigilance can never be relaxed in a globally connected world,” he said.
Abayomi described MMIA as Nigeria’s most important international entry point, noting that it handles about 70 per cent of all incoming international passengers.
As such, he said, the airport remains the most likely route through which infectious diseases could be introduced into the country.
According to him, the state’s preparedness framework centres on rapid identification of suspected cases, immediate isolation, safe evacuation procedures and improved digital monitoring of travellers arriving from affected regions.
Ogunyemi emphasised the importance of collaboration among federal and state agencies, airport operators and frontline personnel in preventing disease outbreaks.
“The frontline actually begins here at our ports of entry. As passengers arrive, you are among the very first people to interact with them, making your role critical in our disease surveillance and response efforts,” she said.
She also conveyed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s appreciation to airport workers and maintained that health security should receive the same priority as other national security concerns.
Lajide highlighted the need to protect frontline officers responsible for screening passengers and implementing health control measures.
She commended the cooperation among airport agencies and urged personnel to continue observing strict infection prevention guidelines.
On behalf of airport authorities, Arewa said MMIA had already intensified preparedness efforts through the installation of touchless sanitiser systems, deployment of temperature-monitoring equipment and enhancement of passenger screening processes.
He disclosed that discussions were ongoing on the possibility of establishing dedicated processing channels for travellers arriving from countries designated as high-risk.
“Ebola is a highly dangerous disease, and any suspected case must be isolated quickly and professionally to prevent transmission,” he said.
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Arewa added that the strong collaboration between airport authorities and the Lagos State Government, which proved effective during the COVID-19 pandemic, would remain critical in responding to future public health emergencies.
Providing additional updates, the Head of Port Health Services at MMIA, Lawal Abdullahi, revealed that the airport reviewed and updated its Public Health Emergency Contingency Plan on March 18, 2026, before the latest Ebola developments emerged.
He stated that the Airport Public Health Emergency Management Team had already been activated and that risk assessments had been conducted to identify countries requiring enhanced surveillance measures.
Abdullahi explained that passenger screening was already operational before the activation of the national health declaration platform, with information routinely shared with Lagos State disease surveillance teams.
He added that efforts were ongoing to improve access to passenger data to support contact tracing and monitoring when required.
The NCAA’s Aeromedical Assessor, Dr Abayomi Asunbo, said international airlines had been instructed to strictly comply with public health regulations before passengers are allowed into Nigeria.
Similarly, FAAN’s General Manager for Aviation Medical Services, Bilkis Ibrahim, said additional protective equipment, multilingual public health advisories, awareness materials and staff training programmes were being deployed across airports.
The Head of Medical Services at MMIA, Dr Uche Ofoegbu, noted that stakeholders had expanded awareness campaigns to ensure airport workers fully understood their responsibilities regarding disease surveillance, infection prevention, isolation procedures and emergency response.
The inspection ended with a tour of screening facilities and other key airport infrastructure, where officials reiterated their commitment to coordinated preparedness, information sharing and rapid response mechanisms.
Although the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed that no Ebola case has been detected in Nigeria, authorities insist that continued vigilance remains necessary as outbreaks persist in other parts of Africa.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ebola outbreak linked to Bundibugyo virus disease continues to develop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
As of May 27, the WHO recorded 906 suspected cases and 223 deaths among suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
By May 29, a total of 134 confirmed cases, including nine in Uganda, and 18 confirmed deaths had been reported across both countries.
The WHO also disclosed that a healthcare worker from the United States who treated Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo tested positive for the virus and is currently receiving treatment in Germany.