Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc yesterday handled the airlifting a shipment of medical supplies which consisted of 107 cartons of the laboratory kits and other vital supplies to combat the dreaded Covid-19 virus for the Federal Government.

The medical equipment donated by the Chinese tech titan and Alibaba founder Jack Ma, arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos in the afternoon of Tuesday and were seamlessly and carefully dispatched to Abuja courtesy of NAHCO’s state-of-the-art equipment.

The Federal Government today dispatched the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) C130 Hercules aircraft, which touched down at the airport at 20:20pm and was received by Prof. Christopher Bode; the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Mrs Olatokunbo Fagbemi; the Group Managing Director (GMD), NAHCO and Air Commodore Onyebushi; Commander NAF airlift command at the Cargo Terminal of the airport.

The cargo was successfully loaded into the belly of the aircraft by the well-trained airside staff of the leading ground handling company in Nigeria, while Fagbemi and her management team monitored events.

Commenting on the issue, Fagbemi said that NAHCo was chosen because of its high-tech equipment and promised that the company would continue to assist the Federal Government in any way possible in its efforts at ensuring the eradication of the disease, which has been described as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (W.H.O).

She explained further that it was not the first time the company would be handling such sensitive and important projects for Federal, State governments and private organisations in the country and beyond.

She said: “We are glad to handle the shipment of these very sensitive and important materials for the Federal Government. As a leader in the sub-sector, we have the latest equipment and well-trained staff to carry out the job seamlessly without hitches.

“We are ready to ensure this disease is eradicated from the world. This is our own contribution to the success of the programme.

The equipment includes 20 000 laboratory diagnostic test kits, 100 000 medical masks, and 1 000 protective suits and face shields.