Nigeria closes all her land borders and suspends all federal cabinet meetings until further notice

NIGERIA is now totally sealed off from the outside world after the government decided to close all of the country's land borders for four weeks as part of the ongoing safeguards introduced to combat the dreaded coronavirus.

Although so far Nigeria has largely been unscathed from the global pandemic, with only about 30 affected, the government has taken several measures to prevent the spread of the virus. All of Nigeria's five international airports have been closed, with no airlines flying in from abroad to Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Kano.

Now, the government has taken this a step further by closing all of Nigeria's land borders for a four week period. In addition, the weekly Federal Executive Council meetings have been suspended until further notice.

Boss Mustapha, the secretary to the government of the federation and chairman of presidential task force on Covid-19, announced the new measures today. He added that the council of state meeting scheduled for this Thursday has also been postponed.

Nigeria is believed to have recorded her first death from the dreaded coronavirus after the former managing director of Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) Suleiman Achimugu died yesterday having brought the virus back from the UK. Mr Achimugu, 67, recently returned from the UK and according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), he passed away while in isolation.

He had apparently gone to the UK for treatment and according to the NCDC, Mr Achimugu had underlying medical conditions including multiple myeloma, diabetes and was undergoing chemotherapy. It is not yet clear, however, whether he died from one of these ailments or if it was the virus that claimed his life.