The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has denied contradicting the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on its recent report that six persons who arrived the country via a vessel had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The NPA had tweeted on Thursday when the announcement was made, saying it was unaware of the incident.
“Hello @NCDC. In respect to the 6 new cases that ‘were detected on a vessel’ in Lagos, the Authority in collaboration with Port Health has not recorded any confirmed cases to date,” the tweet read.
“To enable verification and proper record keeping, kindly avail us with specific details on the name of the Vessel the passengers were on board, and the Terminal or Jetty where they berthed.”
However, in a statement on Friday by NPA’s spokesman, Jatto Adams, the agency said it “needed the clarification to reassure its stakeholders who raised concern over the announcement that six cases were found on a vessel when they as shipping companies, terminal operators, jetty operators did not witness any such passengers through their respective COVID-19 protocol.”
The statement also said: “The NPA and Ports Health Services have set clear protocols on the identification of sick people on vessels and the management of suspected and confirmed cases in line with best practices set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The protocol is that:
“i. The captain of any vessel with a sick person(s) onboard must fly two yellow flags.
“ii. This done, personnel of the Port Health Services will go into the vessel at berth, inspect it and in cases where there is a person on board, they will quarantine the ship and immediately escalate to the Lagos State Ministry of Health.
“iii. The Ministry of Health will send an epidemiologist who will go on board with Port Health, take samples from the suspected sick person and then report to the NCDC.”
The statement said the NCDC has now clarified that the cases were discovered on an oil rig, Siem Marlin on the High Sea, offshore Lagos and accessed by the Lagos State Government and the NCDC by helicopter.
“Maritime stakeholders would not have been so apprehensive if it was clear that the passengers were on a rig,” it said.
“This clarification has renewed the confidence of stakeholders in the effectiveness of the processes put in place, which remains the principal objective of the Authority.”
The NPA assured of its commitment to working with other agencies of government to ensure the safety of all Nigerians.
