COVID-19: How record falsification sets Nigeria against other countries

• NPHCDA mum on vaccination card offenders

By Ojoma Akor, Abbas Jimoh (Abuja) & Abdullateef Aliyu (Lagos)

COVID-19 vaccination certificates and test results from Nigeria have been subjected to international scrutiny as a result of falsification.

This has set Nigeria against other countries as travellers are left frustrated or made to repeat or undergo other tests.

Investigations reveal that people who do not want to get vaccinated procure vaccination cards from as little as N2,000 from health workers at facilities or vaccination points. 

Some few months back, purchase of the cards ranged from N20,000 to N50,000 per card. Findings reveal that the codes on the cards have not stopped the falsification and procurement without vaccination.

Some private facilities also issue fake COVID-19 test results for a fee, ranging from N5,000 to N100,000, depending on the caliber of the person or urgency of need.

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the different protocols introduced by the federal government at various international airports in the country, there have been allegations of test result falsification carried out in connivance with travel agents. 

 Sources told Daily Trust on Sunday that this was responsible for the introduction of the rapid antigen test by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which triggered the initial diplomatic row between Nigeria and the Emirate.

 Recall that while the Nigerian government stipulated a negative PCR test as a requirement for travels, the UAE at the time added another rapid antigen test to be conducted in laboratories which the federal government said were not accredited.  

As a result of this, the Nigerian government suspended Emirates Airlines for flouting the country’s COVID-19 protocols.

Our correspondent, however, learnt that the UAE had to introduce additional testing due to its disbelief in the integrity of the PCR tests after several reports about counterfeiting of the COVID-19 drugs. 

 The director of research at Zenith Travel and a member of the Aviation Roundtable, Olumide Ohunayo, asked the federal government to be more firm in dealing with laboratories where fake COVID-19 tests are detected and also prosecute the perpetrators. 

 He said that the emirates, at that time, was torn between “making profit and meeting the national health protocol of Dubai.”

Daily Trust on Sunday, however, gathered that the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), following reports of fake PCR tests, issued a stern warning to its members not to get involved in conniving with any laboratory to procure fake COVID-19 test results.

 The president of the NANTA, Mrs Susan Akporiaye said, “We all kick against the fakery of COVID-19 as travel agents, and we won’t get involved in things that would affect the industry.”

 She noted that the issue of fake COVID-19 results was not peculiar to Nigeria.  She, however, commended the federal government for putting in place, measures to detect fake results. This was why she dismissed the excuse that Nigerians were banned from coming to the UAE at that time due to fake COVID-19 results.

 Daily Trust on Sunday reports that despite the various measures the federal government put in place to prevent issuance of fake results, Nigerians have continued to express frustration over the protocols in other countries.

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, recently raised the alarm over the COVID-19 protocols and how he almost missed his flight from Paris.

 As an air traveller, the protocols stipulate that a bar code would be generated after making payment for the PCR test. It is the bar code that is presented at the point of boarding.

 But travellers lamented the process, which they described as traumatising.

 Soyinka recalled his experience in the hands of officials of the country’s Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs on his way from Paris, France, in October, describing the protocols as shambolic. 

Soyinka said not only was his flight delayed because, according to them, he had to be given permit to travel, citing COVID-19 reasons, but he was made to go through some rigorous processes such as going to the Nigerian Travel Portal permit to seek permit to travel.

But the Nobel Laureate said he was at a loss about the connection between the Ministry of External Affairs and COVID -19. 

Soyinka said he was stressed out by the delay, and disclosed that he was finally allowed to travel due to a special treatment he was given, which he spoke vehemently against.

It was gathered that because of the vaccination requirements from travellers by some countries, some Nigerians cut corners to purchase cards to beat time or meet requirements. 

Those who believe in the conspiracy theory on COVID-19 would rather purchase a card, especially where it is a requirement for entering their offices or travel, rather than get vaccinated. 

Following the directive that civil servants without proof of vaccination would be barred from their offices, Ocheni Idris went to a health facility in Karishi in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and told the head of the vaccination team that he was only interested in getting the card and not to get vaccinated as he did not have confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. He paid N2, 000 to get the vaccination card.

In September, the executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said the agency was collaborating with law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute people who fraudulently acquired COVID-19 vaccination cards without getting vaccinated. 

He said, “With the increase in COVID-19 vaccination mandates globally, it has come to the notice of the NPHCDA and the Federal Ministry of Health that attempts are being made by unscrupulous persons to procure vaccination cards without receiving the vaccines.” 

He said possession of vaccination cards without receiving the vaccines was criminal and punishable by law. 

He said: “Those who want to sell and those who want to buy will jointly be prosecuted. We are taking this seriously because the activities of these few individuals can bring to disrepute the integrity of the whole vaccination process in Nigeria. We are keeping a close watch to ensure that this kind of activity does not happen. We will name and shame all individuals involved in it, including those trying to procure the cards. The secret service will be on the lookout for these types of individuals, and they will be apprehended and prosecuted.”

However, months on, and with the rampant procurement of vaccination cards, our reporter sought to know  how many people have been investigated or prosecuted for the crime so far, but the NPHCDA could not provide answers.

The head, public relations unit of the agency, Mohammad Ohitoto, did not respond to text messages and calls on this issue. He did not also respond to a question on what the agency is doing to address the menace of forgery or issuance of vaccination cards to people who have not been vaccinated.

Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, a public health expert, Dr Casmir Ifeanyi, said that from empirical evidence, falsification of COVID-19 test results and vaccination cards was not peculiar to Nigeria. He said there had been pockets of incidents of issuance of fake results, even in developed countries like the United Kingdom. 

He added that many highbrow testing centres in the country had been fingered in the issuance of COVID-19 results without really running the test.

Casmir said some contributory factors for fake COVID-19 test results included employment of unqualified personnel for testing, inappropriate regulation, lack of quality control panels for tests and unaccredited testing centres.

He also said the procedure for accessing vaccination was part of the reason it became possible for people to get certificates without getting vaccinated.

He said, “Sometime ago, whenever one went for vaccination, the officials would say there was no network to upload one’s data. They would tell you to go and come back later. So a whole lot of information escaped capture. 

“It may not really be that those individuals were not vaccinated, but their data were not uploaded to the portal. So you now have people who parade cards without vaccination in the actual sense.” 

On the way forward, he said, “If people do not want to take the vaccines, we should categorise them and the risk they pose, as well as make regulations that apply to them. 

“It is not right to make vaccination compulsory, but if you choose to stay off vaccination, there should be a regulation that would keep you from posing a risk to other people.” 

FG to prosecute fake vaccination card holders 

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman, Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said those with fake or procured COVID-19 vaccination cards would be prosecuted.

He told Daily Trust on Sunday that the committee received intelligence and even detected that some unscrupulous citizens were procuring vaccination cards through the black market.

“Nigerians should be wary of getting involved in fake procurement of COVID-19 vaccination cards. It is not in anybody’s interest to do so. This is against the law, and offenders risk being prosecuted,” Mustapha said.