Nigerians have expressed shock over the decision of the federal government to airlift medical materials donated by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma for tackling the coronavirus in Nigeria from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
The Nigerian Airforce airlifted the materials, which arrived Nigeria from China on March 24th, Wednesday afternoon.
The shipment, which came in via an Ethiopian Airlines flight, carried 5.4 million face masks, 1.08 million detection tests, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 sets of protective face shields.
According to a statement by the Air Force Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, the medical materials, which consist of 107 boxes of medical supplies and equipment, comprising surgical masks, medical disposable protective clothing, face shields and detection kits.
They were airlifted in a single mission using the C-130 Hercules aircraft and handed over to a delegation from the Federal Ministry of Health led by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Abdulazeez Mashi Abdullahi, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Speaking after inspecting the delivered items, Abdullahi thanked the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, for the deployment of aircraft to airlift the items to Abuja.
He also expressed appreciation to the NAF officers and men who participated in the airlift mission for their professional conduct. He said the donated items would go a long way in supporting the government’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Country.
The Air Force leadership has also expressed the readiness of the service to provide any form of support within its statutory responsibility of providing aid to civil authority as the Nation continues to work assiduously to deal with the threat posed by COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have asked why the medical materials are being transferred to Abuja when the majority of the coronavirus cases recorded in Nigeria are in Lagos state.
They also said the South Western States have all except one have cases of COVID-19.
