UK makes a U-turn, to lift travel ban on Nigeria, others

The United Kingdom is about to lift the travel ban imposed on some countries after the detection of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Nigeria is one of the countries that the UK added to its red list over Omicron.

But in a swift reaction, Nigeria had asked the UK authorities to remove the country from the list to avoid taking a similar measure.

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had said if by Tuesday (tomorrow), the UK and other countries that took action against Nigeria over Omicron failed to review the policy, Nigeria would have no choice but to ban travellers from the UK, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

But Daily Mail reports that the UK is about to scrap the travel red list and replace it with tests even for the fully vaccinated.

The report said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had convinced his colleagues that the ban should be replaced with testing.

“The move is expected to be approved this week”, The Mail on Sunday reported.

The travel ban has sparked a global outrage. While President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa described it as discriminatory, Akinwunmi Adesina, President of African Development Bank (AFDB), said African countries must not be punished unjustly.

After the backlash, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to re-examine the policy.