Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s Senate has called for stronger Ebola screening at the country’s entry points, raising concerns about gaps in surveillance and urging the Federal Government to strengthen measures to prevent the virus from spreading.
The lawmakers made the call on Wednesday during plenary while considering a motion sponsored by Senator Francis Ade Faduyile, who represents Ondo South under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Faduyile urged the government to introduce mandatory health screening at international airports, seaports and designated land borders in response to the reported Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its spread to other countries.
He proposed compulsory health declaration forms, temperature checks and symptom screening for all arriving international passengers, irrespective of nationality or country of departure. He also called for enhanced screening of travellers who had visited or transited through affected areas within the preceding 21 days.
The proposed measures include deploying trained port health officers, providing personal protective equipment and thermal scanners, and establishing isolation rooms at designated entry points.
Seconding the motion, Senator Ekong Sampson, who represents Akwa Ibom South under the APC, described Ebola as a serious public health threat requiring urgent preventive action. He warned that a single case could trigger wider transmission if authorities failed to contain it.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio also expressed concern over reports that a traveller had entered Nigeria without adequate screening, raising questions about the effectiveness of existing arrangements at the country’s entry points.
Akpabio recalled Nigeria’s experience during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and said comprehensive screening of arriving international passengers was necessary to reduce the risk of imported infections. “Failure to detect an infected traveller early could expose many people to Ebola. Nigeria must learn from its experience during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Comprehensive screening of all arriving international passengers is necessary because infected persons could travel through third countries before arriving in Nigeria,” he said.
The reported screening failure was not independently detailed in the supplied account, and the specific circumstances surrounding the traveller’s arrival were not provided. The Senate urged the Federal Government to release emergency funds from the Service-Wide Vote through the Federal Ministries of Finance and Budget and Economic Planning to support urgent containment measures. It also called for adequate funding for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Port Health Services.
The lawmakers further urged the Senate Committee on Judiciary to engage relevant health authorities to review the Quarantine Act of 1926.
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Hope Ajayi 