The Federal Government has sealed a COVID-19 test centre in Abuja, as part of efforts to clamp down on unscrupulous centres issuing fake COVID-19 test results to people, especially for travel-related reasons.
Urging other states to ramp up efforts and enforce measures to identify such centres, it has advised Nigerians to only patronise accredited laboratories on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s (NCDC) website, where travel-related testing can be done.
Its Director-General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, made this known during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 yesterday in Abuja.
He said: “On the challenge of fake test results, especially for travel purposes, it is a challenge for the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the NCDC and for us all.
“Last week, the FCT Administration supported us in an investigation that ended up in the sealing of one of those centres here in Abuja. This centre had been collecting funds from citizens and issuing fake results. In these labs and testing centres, samples are collected from people, and there is no evidence that any test is done.”
Results are provided and people go around with those results and continue with their travel.
“We have published on our website all the accredited laboratories, where travel-related testing can be done. There are 33 of them in Nigeria – all of them on our websites www.ncdc.gov.ng.”
