Even as Nigeria is yet undecided about what to do about her frontiers with her neighbours on account of the dreaded Ebola Virus, Cameroun has taken the bull by the horns and shuts her border with Nigeria.A Camerounian government spokesman; Issa Tchiroma Bakary announced officially yesterday that the country which shares expansive border with Nigeria has closed all her borders with neighbouring Nigeria.
He said yesterday that: “The government has taken the decision to protect its population because it is much better to prevent than cure the Ebola virus”.
The story of the border closing by Cameroon was first reported on Monday by the AFP, which reported that: "All borders, land, sea, and air, between Cameroon and Nigeria are closed. Our thinking is that it is better to act preventively rather than have to heal" later those who may fall ill, said Issa Tchiroma Bakary.
Prior to yesterday’s official announcement, a spokesman for Cameroun’s foreign ministry; Chiroumma Boukkari had said said the decision to close the borders with Nigeria has become inevitable, because of the fears of the Ebola that spreads like wild fire in the West African sub-region.
“This decision on border closure and suspension of all flights to and from Nigeria was to protect the lives of Cameroonian citizens living within and outside from contracting ebola, as Nigeria, our main trading partner in Africa had been facing since July 20, 2014 when Patrick Sawyer sneaked into the country aboard a flight with the deadly virus.”
He however, noted that the border closure and temporary suspension of flights to and from Nigeria will be for a minimum of one month. He also advised Cameroonian citizens to take the closure of borders and flight suspension seriously in protecting their lives and property.
“The border closures with our main trading partner will be lifted, as soon as Nigeria contains the spread of the deadly viral disease. We also urge all border security agencies of the two countries to be vigilant by complying with this border closures made yesterday (Saturday) by the foreign office here in Ngaudore,” said Boukkari.
Cameroon has a border boundary of over 2, 000 kilometres spanning Borno, Adamawa, Taraba and Cross Rivers states in the South-South sub-region of Nigeria.
Among the West African nations hit hardest by Ebola, Nigeria has had the fewest recorded cases of the disease. So far the virus in Nigeria has claimed four lives, with about a dozen people reportedly infected.http://shippingposition.com.ng/article/ebola-cameroun-officially-closes-border-nigeria
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