Customs Area Controller, CAC of Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Hussein Ejubunu, has warned against the importation and use of used clothing, especially with the outbreak of Monkeypox in the country.
He said
the massive discovery of bales of 1,955 bales of used clothing in an abandoned
building around the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. We made the
discovery and evacuation using combined strategies of intelligence, tact, and
enforcement.
He also
noted that serious health implication associated with the use of such clothing exposes
users to skin diseases like scabies, as well as fungal diseases which can be
transmitted by wearing unwashed second-hand clothes.
Used
clothing in commercial quantity falls under absolute prohibition. They have
been seized and we are on the trail of the smugglers to get them arrested.
According to him, “The very serious health implication
of this act of textile smuggling is the exposure of users to skin diseases like
scabies and fungal diseases which can be transmitted by wearing unwashed
second-hand clothes.
“This is
coming at a time when the world is wary of monkeypox whose mode of transmission
includes clothing. According to a World Health Organization fact sheet,
"Monkeypox” is transmitted to humans through close contact with an
infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.
"Monkeypox
virus” is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions,
body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding.
"It
is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas
of central and West Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.
“The
government in its wisdom wants the local textile industry to enjoy the protection
and create more jobs for Nigerians from the cotton farms through the textile
and garment factories to our markets,” he noted.
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