Infectious Disease Bill, Violation of 1999 Constitution, Says Coalition

A coalition of advocacy groups and professional bodies has faulted the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill, noting that some of its provisions violate the 1999 Constitution that guarantees fundamental rights to private properties, assemblies, human dignity and civil liberties.

The coalition, including the Advocates for Freedom and Democracy and Coalition against Mandatory Vaccination in Nigeria, alleged that the bill, if enacted, would create a number of a venues where chip implants could be smuggled in under the gui se of controlling of infectious diseases.

In a statement by its National Coordinator, Prof. John Oginni and National Chairman, Rev. Tony Akinyemi, the coalition warned that the infectious bill port ended grave dangers to our physical, mental, and spiritual health.

In specific terms, the coalition identified instances of summary abrogation of human rights, dignity and civil liberties and also the issue of mandatory vaccination with the possibility of chip-implants under the sections that addressed vaccine delivery, certification and surveillance.

The coalition rejected sections 6(1-2), 13(1,4) and section 70 of the bill on the ground that the document vested so much power on the Director General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention( NC DC ).

It argued that the power of the director-general would in fringe on fundamental rights and civil liberties of citizens suspected of having an infectious disease, a judgment for which he could not be personally held liable even if it was wrong.

It, also, said the bill breached fundamental rights to private properties and assemblies, sayingthe bill em powered N CDC’ s director-general“to summarily declare ‘any premises’ an isolation area under section 15(1).

“If in his opinion any building is deemed overcrowded, the occupants could be asked to disperse with immediate effect, failure of which a police officer can thereafter come without warrant and use such force as may be necessary to close the building, and worse still, the owner or occupants will be required to settle the expenses incurred in the exercise.”

Under section 8(4), the coalition explained how the infectious disease bill “will affect healthcare professionals if eventually enacted. They are required to transmit whatever information the director-general asks them notwithstanding any restriction on the disclosure of such information by any written law, rule of law, rule of professional conduct.”

By implication, the coalition explained that the opinion of NCDC’s director-general could override any written law, which it said, obviously did not exempt the nation’s constitution and fundamental professional ethics.