Lagos admits travellers buy fake COVID-19 test results

The Lagos state government has admitted that some international travellers procure fake COVID-19 test results. 

TheCable undercover investigation at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, had exposed how government officials forge COVID-19 test results in exchange for bribes.

Those leaving and entering Nigeria are mandated to carry out COVID-19 tests to show they are not carriers of the virus before embarking on their journey.

But in exchange for as low as N25,000, some government officials arrange fake results for travellers.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday, in Lagos, Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health, described the racketeering of fake COVID-19 test results as a dangerous trend, adding that the state government will clamp down on those who procure fake COVID-19 test results.

The commissioner also said some residents who test positive for COVID-19 supply fake contact addresses and phone numbers at isolation centres.

Abayomi said this makes contact tracing difficult for health workers.

“We suspect people are gaining access to fake certificates and we will clampdown on them as this is a very dangerous trend,” Abayomi said.

“Positivity for inbound travellers is on the rise as Nigerians in the Diaspora return to spend Christmas in Lagos. It has come to our attention that a number of people are patronising individuals that sell fake COVID-19 results.

“We are currently putting in processes to identify both buyers and sellers and we will not hesitate to prosecute them.”