UK set to lift travel ban as deadline of Nigeria’s planned sanction nears

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

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

• Omicron now in 57 countries, number expected to rise – WHO
• Omicron: We’ll reciprocate travel ban, FG warns UK, Saudi, Canada

The Nigerian government had warned the UK authorities to remove the country from the list to avoid taking a similar measure.

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

However, in a report, Daily Mail said 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), also said African countries must not be punished unjustly.

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

Johnson made the promise during his weekly COVID updates on Wednesday.