Flights from Argentina, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom have been banned by the Federal Government, putting them on “Nigeria’s red list.”

Minister of Aviation, Mr Hadi Sirika, announced on Sunday that flights from countries that include Nigeria on their red list will be restricted beginning on Tuesday.

Over 200 million Nigerians have a sovereign interest that no foreign authority should play with, he said, adding that any country that disregards diplomatic etiquettes and bilateral agreements in order to slam, what he termed “unfair terms on Nigerians” would be resisted and served in comparable ways, as tit for tat remained a fair game, he posited.

“We recommended that those countries, Canada, UK, Saudi Arabia and Argentina, who banned Nigerians, we also put them on the red list, just the same as they did to us.”

Those nations, the minister argued, had no moral right to fly their aircraft into Nigeria for commercial purposes if Nigeria was on a red list.

Sirika apologized to Nigerians who planned to travel to these nations but stated that the government’s decision was in the best interests of the country.

RN