Nigeria wants airline sanctioned over corpse transported from Ebola-hit Congo

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, has lambasted Kenyan Airline for bringing a corpse from Ebola-hit Congo into the country without proper documentations despite the Ebola alert issued by the country.

In a press statement released by the Ministry of Health on Friday, Mr. Adewole demanded the airline be investigated and sanctioned if found to have violated rules for repatriating bodies into the country.

The corpse was flown into the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, on Monday from the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC.

Though THISDAY newspaper had reported that the corpse tested Ebola negative, the minister still called for investigations.

The newspaper reported that the corpse, believed to be a Nigerian, had arrived Nigeria unaccompanied and was left at the basement of the airport terminal.

While paying an unscheduled visit to the National Port Service of the airport, directed that the body be examined thoroughly.

Examinations by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital confirmed that the body tested negative to Ebola virus or any contagious disease.

The minister also ordered the immediate replacement of current hand-held screeners with auto thermal machines to screen passengers arriving the country.