The Federal Government of Nigeria has extended the ban imposed on local and international flights by four weeks.

9News Nigeria learnt that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the ban on flights in order to check the spread of coronavirus in the country.

At the briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19 on Wednesday, Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, said after due consultation, the federal government decided to extend the flight ban by four weeks.

“Tomorrow marks the last day for the enforcement of the closure of Nigeria’s airspace to flights. We have assessed the situation in the aviation industry and have come to the conclusion that given the facts available to us and based on the advice of experts, the ban on all flights will be extended for an additional four weeks,” he said.

“The Honourable minister of aviation will give you details during this briefing.”

Mustapha appealed to Nigerians to comply with the guidelines of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

He also acknowledged challenges people have been facing at banks, saying efforts were being made to address the situation.

“As we continue to push the frontiers of risk communication, I wish to appeal to all Nigerians to be vigilant and desist from taking undue risks,” he said.

“The PTF recognises the challenges earlier encountered at the bank. We however assure you that the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as the Bankers’ Committee have put in place strategies that would reduce such re-occurrence.

“I, therefore plead with Nigerians to be patient and schedule their physical appearances at banks. On the other hand, I wish to repeat my call to the Banks to also quickly address issues related to difficulty with using their on-line platforms, especially re-validating expired ATM cards amongst others.”