Friday 10th December 2021: The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has disclosed that the decision of the UK to place Nigeria on the red list was not discriminatory but based on science. 
Laing also stated that 19 persons who tested positive for the Omicron strain of the coronavirus, boarded direct flights from Nigeria to the United Kingdom while two others visited Nigeria among other countries.
The UK envoy made the disclosure during an interview on  a television news programme monitored by CEOAFRICA on Thursday.
Recall that CEOAFRICA had earlier reported that the Nigerian government as well as the National Assembly and governors had faulted the UK’s decision to ban all direct flights from Nigeria, describing it as discriminatory.
While admitting that the decision had also disrupted her Christmas plans, Laing said the move was not discriminatory, adding that other European countries had also banned the UK earlier in the year over the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
She said, “In terms of why Nigeria was added to our red list, I want to really stress the importance we attach to an objective evidence-based health system. The way this is done is that countries are reviewed by our health teams. Our health security agency actually work very closely with your NCDC
“Particularly what they look at in the case of Nigeria are two factors. The first is on December 4 when the decision was taken, there were 21 cases of Omicron arising from travellers coming from Nigeria to the UK. Nineteen of those were direct travel links. In other words, people who got on direct flights obviously from Abuja or Lagos and two were Nigeria was part of their travel itinerary.
“That was the second highest after South Africa. The second factor is that because we have such a strong relationship, the volume of travel from Nigeria to the UK is very high, much higher than many other African countries. Nigeria is one of our biggest markets for British Airways as well as one of their profitable routes. That is because of the volume of traffic.”
When asked if Nigeria would be within its rights to retaliate in the spirit of reciprocity, the British envoy said such a move would only be proper if it is evidence based.