Importation of used clothes is fueling the spread of Monkeypox - Customs

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 clothes’, especially with the outbreak of Monkeypox in the country.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, the Customs boss explained that the world is wary of Monkeypox whose mode of transmission includes clothing. Ejibunu also pointed out that smuggling of used clothes has economic and health implications on Nigerians.

What Customs Controller said: Customs made a massive discovery 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.

It is illegal to import used clothes fore resale: 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 exposure of users to skin diseases like scabies and fungal diseases which can be transmitted by wearing unwashed second-hand clothes.

“Monkeypox 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 protection and create more jobs for Nigerians from the cotton farms through the textile and garment factories to our markets,” he noted.

About Monkeypox: 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.