London, Jan. 8, 2021 (AltAfrica)-International passport of Another 200 Nigerians are to be suspended for six months and the owners placed on travel ban for flouting the COVID-19 travel protocol.

This is the second batch of returnee Nigerians who refused to submit themselves for the mandatory coronavirus arrival test conducted seven days after returning home to certify their status

Nigerian government on the first of January, 2021, suspended international passport of 100 citizens and place them on travelling restrictions for non-compliance with mandatory protocol on tests upon arrival as outlined by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

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National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu in a video said that the first 100 names of the two hundred people would be published “Next week and another 100, the subsequent weeks,” according to the Ministry of Information and Culture on Wednesday via Twitter.

Watch #PTFCOVID19 National Coordinator, @DrSaniAliyu explain #COVID19 protocol enforcement.#TakeResponsibility @DigiCommsNG @NigeriaGov pic.twitter.com/2PTSpVJiMt

— Fed Min of Info & Cu (@FMICNigeria) January 6, 2021

Dr Sani said PTF would continue to publish names until there was improvement in compliance.

“We want to change people’s behaviour…we will continue to do it every week until things change. It is not like we want to punish people but if you continue to put our country at risk, we will take action,” he said.

He, however, warned government officials and Very Important personalities (VIPs) against violating COVID-19 protocols saying ‘there will be repercussions.’

Dr Sani’s remarks come four days after the Federal Government released the passport numbers of 100 travellers who failed to undergo COVID-19 tests after returning into the country

Meanwhile, another 1,565 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded across Nigeria by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

1565 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

Lagos-807
FCT-236
Kaduna-79
Oyo-57
Plateau-47
Rivers-37
Katsina-35
Edo-30
Sokoto-30
Delta-26
Kebbi-23
Ondo-20
Enugu-18
Abia-17
Ogun-17
Benue-16
Bayelsa-15
Bauchi-14
Niger-13
Kano-10
Borno-6
Imo-5
Ekiti-4
Osun-2
Jigawa-1 pic.twitter.com/yQjiC3Tncp

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) January 7, 2021

A breakdown of the recent report shows that the cases were recorded in the following states as follows; Lagos-807, FCT-236, Kaduna-79, Oyo-57, Plateau-47, Rivers-37, Katsina-35, Edo-30, Sokoto-30, Delta-26, Kebbi-23, Ondo-20.

Others are;  Enugu-18, Abia-17, Ogun-17, Benue-16, Bayelsa-15, Bauchi-14, Niger-13, Kano-10, Borno-6, Imo-5, Ekiti-4, Osun-2, Jigawa-1.

According to the updates by the NCDC, 95,934 total cases have been recorded across Nigeria so far, with 77,982 discharged cases and 1,330 deaths so far.